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HomeServices of America’s major commission lawsuit settlement, which was first announced in April, moved forward Thursday after the judge overseeing the case granted it preliminary approval.
In an eight-page filing, Judge Stephen R. Bough wrote that the settlement “is fair, reasonable and adequate” and that it was negotiated in good faith. Bough’s approval came one day after the homeseller-plaintiffs in the case filed an 86-page motion asking for the judge’s blessing for the settlement agreement. That document lays out the terms of the settlement, which include HomeServices paying $250 million and making a variety of changes to its business practices.
Bough set a final approval hearing for Nov. 26, the same day as a final approval hearing for the National Association of Realtors’ settlement. News of HomeServices’ preliminary approval was first reported by Real Estate News.
HomeServices’ settlement applies to multiple cases, including those known by the names Moehrl and Sitzer | Burnett. The company was the last major brand named in the Sitzer | Burnett case to reach a settlement agreement, following Anywhere Real Estate and RE/MAX in September and Keller Williams in February. The National Association of Realtors announced its own settlement in March.
The plaintiffs’ motion filed earlier this week notes that combined, the various settlements add up to $980 million in proposed payments.
The settlements followed a trial last October in which a jury concluded that NAR and various major real estate brands conspired to keep consumer costs high and broke antitrust laws. At issue was the way agents get paid, and specifically, an NAR policy known as the cooperative compensation rule. In the wake of that trial, numerous other homesellers and homebuyers have filed similar suits across the U.S.
Aside from the payments from major brands and NAR, the settlements have also led to new rules about the way agents do business. Those rules include a prohibition on sellers’ agents making offers of compensation to buyers’ agents in NAR-affiliated multiple listing services.
The rules are set to go into effect on Aug. 17, though as of last week, numerous questions and varying interpretations remained.
Read Judge Bough’s order granting preliminary approval here:
