The
plaintiffs
in
the

Batton
1
homebuyer

commission
lawsuit
are
making
a
last-minute
effort
to
prevent
the
court
from
granting
final
approval
to
the

commission
lawsuit

settlement
agreements
reached
by

Anywhere,

Keller
Williams
and

RE/MAX
on
Thursday.

The
Batton
plaintiffs
filed
a
motion
for
a
temporary
restraining
order
and
preliminary
injunction
on
Wednesday
in
Chicago’s
U.S.
District
Court
for
the
Northern
District
of
Illinois
Eastern
Division,
where
the
case
was
originally
filed
in
January
2021.
The
motion
seeks
to
prevent
the
defendants
from
filing
a
proposed
order
granting
final
approval
of
the
settlement
agreements.

In
the
motion,
the
Batton
plaintiffs
argue
that
the
three
settling
brokerage
firms
“did
not
reveal
their
intent
to
release
homebuyer
claims”
until
Friday
and
didn’t
reveal
that
they
planned
to
specifically
prevent
the
Batton
1
plaintiffs
from
pursuing
their
claims
until
Tuesday.

When
the
settlement
agreements
were
initially
announced,
it
was
generally
understood
that
they
only
applied
to
claims
brought
by
home
sellers.
However,
in
court
documents
filed
last
week,

Anywhere
explicitly
stated
that
as
part
of
the
settlement,
the
firm
“insisted
that
the
people
in
the
Settlement
Class
release
all
their
antitrust
claims
arising
from
the
same
alleged
conspiracy,
including
claims
they
could
assert
as
either
sellers
or
buyers.
Anywhere
had
no
interest
in
paying
the
same
people
twice
for
the
same
alleged
antitrust
conspiracy,
once
for
claims
based
on
their
home
sales
and
another
time
for
claims
based
on
their
home
purchases.”

RE/MAX’s
filing
was
not
as
explicit,
with
the
firm
simply
stating
that
the
“settlement
agreement
resolves
on
a
nationwide
basis
all
actual
and
potential
claims
for
damages
and
injunctive
relief
against
RMLLC
and
its
affiliates
by
any
member
of
the
Settlement
Class
that
engaged
a
residential
real
estate
broker
or
agent
and
paid
cooperative
compensation
in
connection
with
a
residential
home
transaction.”

For
its
part,

Keller
Williams,
makes
no
mention
of
the
homebuyer
lawsuits
or
the
Batton
plaintiffs
in
its
filing,
only
noting
that
since
its
settlement
agreement
was
reached
months
after
those
reached
by
the
other
two
firms,
it
also
resolves
the
claims
in
the

Umpa
commission
suit.

In
their
motion,
the
Batton
plaintiffs
note
that
the
initial
settlement
agreements,
which
have
already
received
preliminary
approval
from
the
court,
do
not
include
language
identifying
the
Batton
plaintiffs
or
homebuyer
claims
as
being
released,
and
that
the

notices
sent
out
to
class
members
do
not
mention
the
Batton
suit
or
homebuyer
claims.

On

the
website
related
to
the
class
notifications,
it
states
that
to
be
“eligible
to
receive
the
benefits
of
the
Settlements,
you
must
have:
(1)
sold
a
home
during
the
Eligible
Date
Range;
(2)
listed
the
home
that
was
sold
on
a
multiple
listing
service
anywhere
in
the
United
States;
and
(3)
paid
a
commission
to
any
real
estate
brokerage
in
connection
with
the
sale
of
the
home.“

Due
to
these
developments,
the
Batton
plaintiffs
state
that
the
temporary
restraining
order
is
“urgently
needed.”

“The
Proposed
Order,
if
entered,
will
irreparably
harm
homebuyer
Plaintiffs
and
putative
class
members
who
both
bought
and
sold
homes
in
two
ways:
(1)
it
improperly
enjoins
them
from
continuing
to
litigate
their
claims
in
this
case
before
this
Court;
and
(2)
releases
their
claims
without
additional
compensation,
let
alone
adequate
notice
and
representation
for
the
unique
claims
held
by
homebuyers,”
the
Batton
plaintiffs’
motion
reads.

Keller
Williams
did
not
wish
to
comment
on
this
news,
while
RE/MAX
and
Anywhere
did
not
return
a
request
for
comment.

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