The parent company of @properties and Christie’s International Real Estate today became the latest brokerage to settle seller commission lawsuits, according to court filings, and also the first independent to do so.
At the same time, Realty ONE Group indicated it had reached an agreement to end litigation by sellers.
The @properties and Christie’s International Real Estate settlement marks the first by an independent in the ongoing commission lawsuit saga. Both settlements come one day after the companies were added to a nationwide commission lawsuit, known as Gibson.
That suit previously named Compass, eXp, Redfin, Weichert, United Real Estate, Howard Hanna and Douglas Elliman, making almost identical claims as Burnett, but added a handful of other large real estate brokerages in the new complaint.
A federal judge officially paused all deadlines and hearings involving the companies pending the settlement, which is meant to cover a nationwide class, and would, if approved, allow the up-and-coming brokerage to receive immunity from all current and future claims by homesellers.
An @properties spokesperson said the company was “not disclosing the monetary terms at this time.” In a statement shared with RISMedia, Realty ONE Group said something similar, calling the terms of the settlement “confidential.”
“Settling these claims today allows us to move beyond a very costly litigation process and focus our full time, energy and resources on what matters most: our agents, affiliate brokerages, staff and clients,” said Mike Golden, co-CEO of @properties and Christie’s International Real Estate, in a statement.
“In front of us, we have yet another opportunity to demonstrate the value that highly professional real estate advisors backed by the industry’s best brokerage firms provide to homebuyers and sellers, and we are ready for that moment,” added co-CEO Thad Wong.
Realty ONE Group founder and CEO Kuba Jewgieniew focused on the future, saying the company’s model and mindset have created “opportunities” beyond the lawsuits.
“We don’t want to spend any more time with the distractions that litigation tends to bring and instead are ready to blow the doors open to the next few years of an exciting real estate market,” he said in a statement.
According to a release provided to RISMedia, the @properties settlement covers all brands under the @properties and Christie’s umbrella, including Ansley Real Estate and Sereno brands; as well as independently owned brokerages that are part of the @properties and Christie’s International Real Estate affiliate networks in the U.S.
Similar to other brokerages that have settled, the company is agreeing to several policy changes, including having agents disclose that commissions are negotiable, prohibiting agents filter properties by commission offer as well as offering new training on these issues.
“The settlement does not demonstrate, nor does @properties or Christie’s International Real Estate acknowledge, that they have ever participated in the business practices alleged by the plaintiffs,” the release says.
Realty ONE Group also said its franchises and affiliates would be covered by the settlement.
@properties is the third brokerage named in Burnett copycat cases to settle, having only directly faced claims that the company was complicit in inflating commissions during the last couple months.
Most of the brokerages added are large independents like @properties—companies too big to be covered under the agreement struck by the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR).
@properties had also faced a very specific seller lawsuit that was initially filed in state court, but moved to the federal level in January of this year.
This is a developing story. Stay tuned to RISMedia for updates.
Editor’s note: This story was updated with a response from Realty ONE Group at 2:14 p.m. eastern time.
