Jesse Williams

Above, a screenshot from one of Homes.com’s new ads featuring Dan Levy of “Schitt’s Creek” fame and SNL’s Heidi Gardner.  During one of America’s most enduring traditions, Super Bowl Sunday, Homes.com plans to make history, regardless of who takes home the championship trophy.  Through four commercials reaching some 113 million viewers, the rapidly ascending real…

Lawyers for Keller Williams fired back at former CEO John Davis in a court filing this week, claiming he is using the judicial system as a vehicle for publicity—the latest volley in an acrimonious legal saga that has included a withdrawn sexual assault claim, accusations of wild self-dealing and high-level leadership shake-ups at the mega-franchisor.…

Editor’s Note: The Mortgage Mix is RISMedia’s weekly highlight reel of need-to-know mortgage-industry happenings. Watch for it each Friday afternoon. –Rates continue to push above 7%, according to the latest data from Freddie Mac, as new inflation data and slower than expected economic growth have tempered hopes that the Federal Reserve will significantly slash rates…

Pushing forward with his own unique take on portal monetization, CoStar CEO Andy Florance said on a recent earnings call he believes incumbents like Zillow, realtor.com® and Redfin are facing major headwinds from changes agreed to by the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) as part of a recent lawsuit settlement. “With recent seismic legal settlements…

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…

A federal judge today promptly issued preliminary approval to the landmark settlement agreement struck last month between the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) and a class of recent homesellers, a major, if expected step toward finalizing a deal that will see NAR pay $418 million and make major changes to policies and practice. Judge Stephen…

Compensation is being removed from the MLS, and buyer agents will be required to sign written agreements with clients. Those changes affect everyone, but not everyone is reacting, adapting or preparing for them in the same way. With how local real estate remains, the path forward will depend on who you are following. Merri Jo…

CoStar, the commercial conglomerate-turned residential portal gate-crasher, announced today that it is acquiring Matterport in a deal worth $1.6 billion, adding what appears to be a highly complementary new business to its growing arsenal of real estate-focused companies. “CoStar Group and Matterport have nearly identical mission statements of digitizing the world’s real estate,” said Andy…

Editor’s note: The COURT REPORT is RISMedia’s weekly look at current and upcoming lawsuits, investigations and other legal developments around real estate. Courts rarely move fast. Although it has been over a month since the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) announced that it was settling seller lawsuits, and 10 days since a judicial panel issued…

In a case that could have broader implications for nearly every large real estate company, a federal judge ruled earlier this week that Keller Williams as a franchisor can be held responsible for the actions of individual agents who made sales calls to individuals on “Do Not Call” registries.  The ruling stems from a long-running…

With commission-focused lawsuits filed by recent homesellers seemingly headed toward resolution through a patchwork of settlement agreements, the real estate industry is now pivoting to face another threat—allegations from homebuyers that companies conspired on rules that inflated commissions and harmed them. In the largest and most recent lawsuit filed by buyers—known as Batton—several big brokerages…