Four

agents
formerly
affiliated
with


Keller
Williams
Realty
—
Jerri
L.
Moulder,
David
L.
Bueker,
Robert
E.
Hill,
and
Kevin
Ortiz
—
have
taken
legal
action
against
the
real
estate

brokerage
by
filing
three
separate
class-action
lawsuits,


Inman
first
reported
on
Tuesday. 

The
lawsuits
contest
alterations
made
to
Keller
Williams’
profit-sharing
program,
with
one
of
them
seeking
a
court
order
to
halt
further
payouts
until
the
case
concludes.

On
March
22,
Moulder,
who
worked
with
Keller
Williams
from
2002
to
2011,
filed
a
complaint
aiming
for
class-action
status
in
the

U.S.
District
Court
for
the
Western
District
of
Texas
in 
San
Antonio.
Allegations
include
breach
of
contract
and
unjust
enrichment,
with
damages
sought
at
$250
million.
Moulder’s
complaint
challenges
adjustments
made
to
Keller
Williams’
profit-sharing
program
and
calls
for
a
rollback
of
the
new
policy.

The
following
day,
Bueker,
a
former
KW
agent
from
2003
to
2011,
filed
a
similar
complaint
in
the

U.S.
District
Court
for
the
Eastern
District
of
Missouri
in
St.
Louis.
Bueker’s filing
echoes
Moulder’s,
but
it
also
requests
a
preliminary
injunction
“specifically
prohibiting
the
redistribution
of
disputed
payments
under
the
Profit
Sharing
Program.”

“To
the
extent
that
disputed
Profit
Sharing
Program
funds
are
distributed
to
other
Profit
Sharing
Program
participants
during
the
pendency
of
this
action,
Plaintiff,
Class
Members
and
Sub-Class
Members
risk
suffering
irreparable
harm
absent
an
injunction
because
Profit
Sharing
Program
funds
will
be
distributed
without
any
method
or
ability
to
recapture
those
funds
from
the
recipients,”
the
Bueker
complaint
states. 

On
March
25,
Robert
E.
Hill,
a
former
KW
agent
from
2002
to
2013,
filed
a
similar
complaint
in
the

U.S.
District
Court
of
Kansas
in
Kansas
City.
Hill
also
demands
a
preliminary
injunction
to
prohibit
the
redistribution
of
disputed
payments.

On
March
26,
Kevin
Ortiz,
a
former
KW
agent
from
2011
to
2024,
also
filed
a
complaint
in
the

U.S.
District
Court
of
Colorado
in
Denver.
Ortiz
is
demanding
$5
billion
in
damages
and
a
preliminary
injunction
to
prohibit
the
redistribution
of
disputed
payments.

In

February
2020,
KW
introduced
a
more
restrictive
policy
to
its
profit-sharing
program.
It
stated
that
associates
who
joined
the
brokerage
on
or
after
April
1,
2020,
and
subsequently
jumped
to
a
competitor
would
lose
their
revenues
from
the
company’s
lifelong
revenue
program.
But
that
policy
did
not
impact
agents
who
joined
before
April
1,
2020. 

The
change
introduced
in
2020
also
extended
the
wait
period
to
become
a
vested
member.
But
in

August
2023,
during
KW’s
Mega
Agent
Camp
event
in
Austin,
the
company’s
International
Associate
Leadership
Council
(IALC)
voted
to
revise
the
profit-sharing
distribution
policy.
Under
the
updated
policy,
vested
agents
who
joined
before
April
1,
2020,
and
actively
compete
with
KW
brokerages
would
see
their
profit
share
reduced
from
100%
to
5%.

An
incentive
to
go
back
to
Keller
Williams
remained.
Former
agents
who
return
to
the
company
within
six
months
of
the
effective
reduction
date
will
have
their
profit
share
restored
to
100%,
KW
President
Marc
King
wrote
in
an
email
in
August
2023.
Also,
former
KW
agents
who
have
retired
or
left
the
industry
altogether
will
retain
their
full
profit-share
distribution.
The
new
policy
is
supposed
to
be
implemented
on
or
before
July
1,
2024.

“On
August
16,
2023,
the
IALC
—
the
voice
of
Keller
Williams
Realty,
Inc.’s
franchisees
and
agents
—
voted
to
update
their
profit
share
distribution
policy,
set
to
go
into
effect
July
1,
2024,”
KW
spokesperson
Darryl
Frost
told
Inman
in
a
statement
Monday.

“Under
the
revised
policy,
former
KW
agents
who
actively
compete
against
our
brokerages
will
receive
less
profit
share,
with
more
redistributed
to
the
agents
who
continue
to
partner
in
our
growth.
This
change
will
not
affect
agents
that
retire
or
leave
the
real
estate
brokerage
business.
Importantly,
this
change
does
not
enrich
Keller
Williams
Realty,
Inc.
—
these
funds
continue
to
enrich
only
affiliated
real
estate
agents,
investors,
brokers,
and
staff.”

Both
the
Moulder
and
Bueker
lawsuits
—
filed
by
the
firm
of
Humphrey,
Farrington
&
McClain,
based
in
Independence,
Missouri
—
focus
on
the
contention
that
Keller
Williams
breached
its
contract
with
agents
by
retroactively
altering
the
profit-share
program.
They
also
highlight
a
provision
added
by
the
IALC
in
August,
allowing
KW
to
utilize
profit-share
program
funds
for
legal
defense
against
disputes.

According
to
the
complaints,
a
report
presented
to
the
IALC
in
August
2019
revealed
that
approximately
$25
million
to
$40
million
had
been
paid
in
profit-sharing
distributions
to
non-Keller
Williams
participants
who
were
directly
competing
with
the
company.

Gary
Keller,
co-founder
of
Keller
Williams,
introduced
the

concept
of
profit
sharing
for
agents
in
1986.
Keller
and
the
company’s
first
Associate
Leadership
Council
created
the
profit-share
system,
and
an
early
version
of
the
program
was
officially
launched
in
1987.

The
tenets
of
the
program
are
simple:
Owners
of
individual
Keller
Williams
market
centers
allocate
roughly
50%
of
their
monthly
office
profits
to
associates
who
play
an
instrumental
role
in
attracting
new
talents
to
the
company’s
fold.
When
an
associate
agent
joins
any
KW
market
center,
they
have
to
name
their
sponsor. 

On
the
21st
of
the
following
month,
a
portion
of
the
market
center’s
profit
is
automatically
deposited
to
the
sponsor’s
account.
The
sponsor
does
not
receive
a
portion
of
the
associate’s
commission
but
is
sharing
in
the
owner’s
profits,
although
a
market
center
must
be
profitable
for
a
share
to
be
paid. 

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