HomeServices
of
America,
the
last
remaining
brokerage
defendant
in
the
landmark
Sitzer/Burnett
antitrust

commission
case,
has
agreed
to
pay
$250
million
in
damages
to
settle
lawsuits
that
will
change
agent
compensation
across
America.

The
New
York
Times
first

reported
news
of
the
settlement.

The
deal
comes
just
days
after
the
federal
judge
overseeing
the
commission
case
in
Missouri
approved
a
preliminary
settlement
that
will
see
the

National
Association
of
Realtors
and
multiple
other
residential
brokerages
collectively

pay
hundreds
of
millions
of
dollars
in
damages
and
make
large-scale

changes
to
longstanding
commission
policies.

NAR,
the
industry’s
de
facto
trade
association,
earlier
this
month
agreed
to
pay
$418
million
over
five
years
to
settle
the
claims.
HomeServices,
owned
by

Berkshire
Hathaway
Energy,

resisted
settling
the
case
and
will
pay
far
more
than
its
large
brokerage
contemporaries,
most
of
which
are
paying

between
$50
million
and
$90
million
to
settle
claims.

The
proposed
agreement
with
HomeServices
brings
the
total
pending
settlements
north
of
$940
million.
Other
defendants
in
the
Sitzer/Burnett
case,
Anywhere
Real
Estate,
RE/MAX
and
Keller
Williams,
settled
for
a
combined
$209
million.

“This
is
another
significant
settlement
for
American
home
sellers
who
have
been
saddled
with
paying
billions
in
unnecessary
commission
costs. 
This
brings
us
a
step
closer
to
resolving
this
long-running
case
involving
the
industry-wide
brokers’
commission
scheme,”
said Benjamin
Brown,
managing
partner
of

Cohen
Milstein
Sellers
&
Toll,
which
was
among
the
law
firms
that
represented
the
plaintiffs.

In
a
statement
sent
to
HousingWire
on
Friday,
Chris
Kelly,
HomeServices
EVP
said
that
the
settlement,
which
is
subject
to
court
approval,
will
“protect
our
nearly
70,000
agents,
51
brands
and
over
300
franchisees
and
licensees
from
related
lawsuits.”

The
financial
terms
of
the
settlement
represent
a
sole
obligation
of
HomeServices,
with
no
participation
by
any
parent
entity,
to
effectively
conclude
the
antitrust
litigation. (HomeServices’
parent
company
was

named
as
a
defendant
in
a
separate

commission
lawsuit

known
as
Gibson,
and
plaintiff
lawyers
said
they
would
continue
to
pursue
that
case.)  

“While
we
have
always
been
confident
in
the
legality
and
ethics
of
our
business
practices,
the
decision
to
settle
was
driven
by
a
desire
to
eliminate
the
uncertainty
brought
by
the
protracted
appellate
and
litigation
process,”
Kelly
said.
“This
resolution
allows
us
to
concentrate
on
our
primary
goal:
delivering
unparalleled
value
in
the
real
estate
market
and
serving
home
buyers
and
sellers
with
the
highest
standards
of
service.” 

In
October,
a
jury
in
Kansas
City,
Missouri

determined
that
NAR
and
the
brokerages
conspired
to
inflate
or
stabilize
commissions
via
NAR’s
Participation
Rule,
which
required
listing
agents
to
make
an
offer
of
compensation
to
a
buyer’s
agent.
The
jury
verdict
came
to
$1.76
billion,
which
would
have
been
trebled
to
$5.4
billion
in
damages.
It
spurred
dozens
of
copycat
cases
filed
in
other
states
and
resulted
in
a
series
of
settlements
in
the
winter
and
spring.

Earlier
this
week,
Judge
Stephen
Bough,
who
is
overseeing
Sitzer/Burnett
and
several
other
related
commission
cases,
preliminarily
approved
the
settlements,
which
are
expected
to
go
into
effect
in
mid-July.

The
settlement
agreement
no
longer
requires
agent
participants
be
members
of
the
NAR.
It
also
stipulates
that
listings
agents
can
no
longer
display
buyer
agent

commissions
in
the
MLS
but
can
put
it
on
their
brokerage’s
website
or
elsewhere,
a
major
change
in
policy.

The
NAR
settlement
protects
brokerages
that

had
$2
billion
or
less
in
sales
volume
in
2022;
it
did
not
include
roughly
85
brokerages
that
did
more
than
$2
billion
that
year,
and
they’ll
have
to
reach
separate
settlements
with
the
plaintiff’s
attorneys.

The
Department
of
Justice
has
also
taken
an
interest
in
the
Sitzer/Burnett
case
and
may
attempt
to
convince
Judge
Bough
to
change
the
terms
of
the
settlement.
The
DOJ
may
also

file
charges
separately
to
prevent
any
display
of
buyer
agent
commissions
on

any
platform.

HomeServices
of
America
is
the
third-largest
brokerage
in
the
country
by
transaction
sides
at
235,861
in
2023,
according
to
the
latest

RealTrends
rankings.
The
Minnesota-headquartered
firm
had
$133.8
billion
in
sales
volume
in
2023,
behind
only

Compass,

Anywhere
Advisors
and

eXp
Realty.

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