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A Florida-based commission lawsuit against HomeServices of America and Douglas Elliman may be getting bigger, according to a new court document that reveals 31 new homebuyers want to join the case.
The case in question is known as Lutz after lead plaintiff James Lutz. In the new filing, Lutz’s attorneys ask that they be allowed to file a new complaint — or, the document that begins a lawsuit and lays out the initial claims — that would add dozens of additional homebuyers as plaintiffs. Those would-be new plaintiffs include people such as Mya Batton, Scott Davis and others who are also involved in other commission lawsuits.
News of the new filing was first reported by HousingWire.
In the new filing, Lutz and his attorneys argue that the new plaintiffs’ claims are identical to the ones Lutz has already made.
Lutz first filed his case in late April. It came after HomeServices had been dismissed from a similar case, known as Batton 1. In the suit, Lutz said that he bought a home in Key Colony, Florida, in 2021 using a buyer agent who is affiliated with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, one of HomeServices of America’s franchisees. The suit went on to allege that the cost of homebuying to consumers, as a result of the so-called fixed prices, is “enormous.”
The new filing is a response to the defendants’ attempts to have the case thrown out. HomeServices and Douglas Elliman specifically asked a judge to dismiss the suit in August because, it argued, Lutz lacked standing to represent the claims of class members outside of Florida.
The new amended complaint would address that issue by adding plaintiffs that, according to the filing, “reside or purchased homes in 25 states plus the District of Columbia.”
The Lutz case originally only named HomeServices as a defendant, but Douglas Elliman was added in June.
At the time it began, the Lutz case was somewhat atypical for a commission lawsuit because it was filed by a homebuyer. Though a number of such cases do exist, the best-known commission suits — cases such as Sitzer | Burnett and Gibson — were filed by homesellers. The settlements forged by the National Association of Realtors and various other industry players — including HomeServices — cover these seller-led cases.
Despite originating from the buyer’s side of the home purchasing process, the Lutz case and other buyer-led lawsuits accuse major industry players of violating antitrust laws and inflating consumer costs — claims that echo those in the seller-led cases.
A judge has yet to decide if the 31 new plaintiffs will be allowed to join the Lutz case.
Read the new filing here (if the document doesn’t appear, refresh the page):
