The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) is settling buyer lawsuits for $52.25 million, opting into a copycat lawsuit in Illinois in what is being described as a “broader” release for all NAR members, brokerages and MLSs.
The settlement is meant to resolve claims by homebuyers over the same claims put forward in the Burnett case by sellers—namely, that NAR rules around commissions inflated costs for consumers. NAR has long denied any wrongdoing, but agreed to multiple practice changes as part of the seller settlements.
In a statement, NAR CEO Nykia Wright said that the settlement is part of the organization’s efforts detailed in a new strategic plan to “advance the legal interest of Realtors®.”
“This outcome, which provides a broader level of protection and release for the industry than has been secured in any previous NAR settlement, is a result of NAR’s new legal team’s diligent approach to addressing legal risk and reinforces our commitment to delivering greater value and stability for our members, so they can remain focused on their clients and getting to their next transaction,” she said.
While buyer litigation will continue against many brokerages, the new NAR settlement includes all brokerages that have not yet been named in a buyer lawsuit who meet “specified eligibility criteria” and have a Realtor® as a principal.
It also protects all associations and MLSs—both NAR-affiliated and “non-Realtor® MLSs”—in stark contrast to the Burnett settlement, which required many brokerages and MLSs to pay extra to opt in to that agreement, drawing significant backlash from those who were left out.
In a follow-up email, NAR said there were “no transaction volume requirements” like in the Burnett settlement.
The settlement, if it is approved, would put a significant legal threat in the rear-view both for NAR and many real estate practitioners. The buyer lawsuits have largely grown and sprawled in the past year or so, mostly driven by lawyers behind a 2021 case known as Batton.
NAR is a defendant in Batton, but the settlement was part of an opt-in deal with lawyers in a separate lawsuit called Tucorri. The Batton plaintiffs have strongly objected to brokerages, including Anywhere, who have sought to be part of the Tucorri settlement.
A source at NAR told RISMedia that the organization would be “paying attention” to any interventions by the Batton plaintiffs, who have sought to block those settlements, and any impact that would have on the approval timeline. Right now, a final hearing is scheduled for July 28, according to NAR.
The NAR source declined to address how the $52.25 million figure was reached or negotiated, which NAR said will be paid almost entirely after the organization finishes paying the Burnett settlement in 2028. NAR paid $418 million in that lawsuit, while Keller Williams paid $20 million to settle the Batton case, and Anywhere paid a little under $10 million to opt in to the Tuccori deal.
Attorneys representing both buyers and sellers have sparred with NAR and big brokerages in court over whether the seller settlements cover claims by people who both bought and sold a home during the relevant time periods. A federal judge previously ruled that buyers who also sold cannot sue for the same conduct again, though that ruling is under appeal.
Based on calculations by plaintiffs’ expert witnesses in the Batton case, between 21% and 28% of buyers did not sell a home, and estimated nationwide damages in the tens of billions.
“This outcome is a direct result of the more deliberate and strategic legal approach our team has adopted,” said Jon Waclawski, General Counsel of NAR, in a statement. “We sought this settlement to secure meaningful protections for our members and the industry.”
Editor’s note: a previous version of this story incorrectly stated the settlement payment as $52.5 million.
