Northern
California’s
copycat

commission
lawsuit,
known
as

Grace
after
its
lead
plaintiffs,
has
gained
five
additional
defendants.
In
an
amended
complaint
filed
on
Friday,
the
plaintiffs’
counsel
named

Vanguard
Properties,

Twin
Oaks
Real
Estate,

Windermere
Real
Estate
Services
Company,

Rapisdara
&
Fox
and

Realty
One
Group,
as
additional
defendants
in
the
antitrust
suit.

Vanguard
operates
in
Marin,
Sonoma,
Napa,
San
Francisco,
East
Bay
and
Palm
Springs
counties
and
has
approximately
500
agents.
Twin
Oaks
is
headquartered
in
Solano
County
and
has
roughly
100
agents,
while
Windermere
is
headquartered
in
Seattle
and
has
over
6,500
agents.
According
to
the
amended
complaint,
the
firm
does
“substantial
business”
the
Northern
District
of
California.
Rapisdara
&
Fox
is
an
affiliate
of
defendant
Realty
One
Group,
operating
under
Realty
One
Group
FOX.
The
firm
operates
in
Northern
San
Francisco
Bay
Area,
Solano
County,
Napa
County,
Sonoma
Count,
and
Yolo
County,
and
it
has
roughly
100
agents.

The
lawsuit
was
originally
filed
in
U.S.
District
Court
for
Northern
California
in
early
December.

The
five
additional
brokeragea
join

Bay
Area
Real
Estate
Information
Services
MLS
(BAREIS
MLS),


National
Association
of
Realtors, RE/MAX, Anywhere, Keller
Williams, Compass, eXp
World
Holdings,
 Marin
Association
of
Realtors, North
Bay
Association
of
Realtors, Northern
Solano
County
Association
of
Realtors,
and Solano
Association
of
Realtors,
as
defendants.

Like
the
other
commission
lawsuits,
the
Grace
suit
takes
aim
at
NAR’s
Participation
Rule,
which
requires
listing
agents
to
make
a
blanket
offer
of
compensation
to
the
buyer’s
broker
in
order
to
list
the
property
on the
MLS.
Although
BAREIS
MLS
is
partially
broker-owned
and
not
solely
owned
by
Realtor
associations,
the
complaint
alleges
that
since
“virtually
all
committee
members”
were
NAR
members
during
the
proposed
class
period
and
NAR
members
are
required
to
comply
with
the
NAR
Handbook
and
code
of
ethics,
the
Participation
Rule
was
in
play
with
properties
listed
on
BAREIS
MLS.
In
addition,
BAREIS
MLS
has
its
own
rule
similar
to
NAR’s
Participation
Rule.

“The
gravamen
of
Plaintiff’s
complaint
is
that
anti-competitive
BAREIS
MLS
rules,
which
Defendants
agreed
to,
implemented,
and
enforced,
require
Class
members
to
make
a
blanket,
unilateral,
and
effectively
non-negotiable
offer
of
buyer
broker
compensation
when
listing
a
property
on
the
BAREIS
MLS,”
the
amended
complaint
states.

The
lawsuit
is
seeking
class
action
status
for
the
suit,
with
the
proposed
class
being
any
homeowner
who
listed
and
sold
a
home
on
BAREIS
MLS
between
Dec.
8,
2019,
and
the
present.
Additionally,
the
plaintiffs
are
demanding
a
jury
trial,
damages,
a
permanent
injunction
barring
the
defendants
from
requiring
sellers
pay
the
buyer
broker,
and
“restitution
and
restitutionary
disgorgement
of
all
monies
wrongfully
obtained
from
Plaintiff
and
the
Class
by
Defendants.”

In
late
December,
the
plaintiffs
in
the Gibson and Umpa suits
ask
the
court
if
their
suits,
along
with
Grace
and
six
other
copycat
commission
suits
can

consolidate
in
Missouri
under
Judge
Stephen
Bough,
who
oversaw
the

Sitzer/Burnett
trial.
A
ruling
has
yet
to
be
made
on
this
motion.

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