A federal judge today gave a final stamp of approval to settlement agreements struck by nine large brokerages, confirming immunity from seller-filed commission lawsuits despite objections from some other plaintiffs.
Judge Stephen R. Bough of the Western District of Missouri oversaw a final “fairness hearing” for the agreements struck by Compass, The Real Brokerage, Realty ONE Group, At World Properties (the parent company of @properties Christie’s International Real Estate), Douglas Elliman, Redfin, Engel & Völkers, United Real Estateand HomeSmart.
Mike Ketchmark, lead attorney for the plaintiffs, confirmed to RISMedia that the settlements were approved.
“Today’s approval is great news for the class members,” he said. “Today, we took a big step toward resolving these cases. We remain confident that the end is in sight.”
The settlements were agreed to in the largest Burnett copycat case, filed by Ketchmark and other attorneys behind that litigation, which resulted in a $1.8 billion judgment exactly a year ago.
The brokerages all subsequently struck separate deals with those plaintiffs, agreeing to pay a total of a little over $110 million and make practice changes related to commissions and membership requirements for the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR).
NAR, which negotiated a separate and much further reaching deal back in March, is scheduled for a final fairness hearing (also overseen by Bough) in late November.
Objections came from plaintiffs in other class-action commission cases, who argued the settlements should not provide immunity from their lawsuits, as well as class members who argued that the payments going out to homesellers will be insufficient.
Bough previously approved deals struck by Keller Williams, Anywhere and RE/MAX over similar objections.
This is a breaking story. Stay turned to RISMedia for updates.
