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Even as settlements in homeseller commission cases continue to stack up, a slew of high-profile real estate companies are fighting back.

On Jan. 27, Berkshire Hathaway Energy (the parent company of HomeServices of America), Windermere Real Estate Services, Hanna Holdings, EXIT Realty, William Raveis Real Estate, Crye-Leike, and William L. Lyon and Associates filed answers to a lawsuit in a case known as Gibson, denying the suit’s allegations and defending themselves against the suit’s claims.

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“BHE denies that it engages in or engaged in any anticompetitive conduct or any conduct that has or had anticompetitive effects, including, but not limited to, implementing or adhering to any agreement, combination, or conspiracy that is anticompetitive,” attorneys for Berkshire Hathaway Energy, a holding company that owns HomeServices and is a subsidiary of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, wrote in a legal filing.

“BHE denies any liability to Plaintiffs, denies that this case is appropriate for class-action treatment, and denies that it violated the federal antitrust laws,” the filing added.

The Gibson suit was the first antitrust commission suit filed after an October 2023 jury verdict in the Sitzer | Burnett case awarded billions to a class of homeseller plaintiffs in Missouri.

In addition, Hanna and Crye-Leike state that the plaintiffs’ claims are barred due to the nationwide NAR settlement. While Crye-Leike states that the settlement includes Crye-Leike “as a released party,” Hanna takes the view that the Gibson plaintiffs’ claims were “released” in that deal and, therefore, the NAR settlement “resolved those claims for the alleged conspiracy as a whole.”

Several other defendants have settled the case, including Compass, Douglas Elliman, The Real Brokerage, @properties, Redfin, Realty ONE Group, Engel & Völkers, HomeSmart, United Real Estate, NextHome, the Keyes Company, John L. Scott Real Estate Affiliates and The K Company Realty.

This week, two other companies joined that list: Real Estate One and Baird & Warner, who agreed to pay $1.5 million and $2.2 million, respectively, adding up to $3.7 million.

The plaintiffs told the court that the deals were “substantially the same in all material respects as the terms of the previous thirteen Gibson Settlements, including substantially similar Practice Changes or agreements to maintain certain practices.” The court subsequently granted preliminary approval to the settlements on Tuesday, Jan. 28.

Email Andrea V. Brambila.

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