The
path
forward
for
the

settlement
agreements
reached
by

Anywhere,


RE/MAX
and


Keller
Williams
with
the
home
seller
plaintiffs
in
the

commission
lawsuits
has
become
a
bit
murkier.

Last
week,
two
parties
filed
appeals
with
the

Eighth
Circuit
Court
of
Appeals
that
seek
to
overturn
Judge
Stephen
R.
Bough’s

May
9
decision
to
grant
final
approval
of
the
three
settlement
agreements.

The
first
appeal
was
filed
on
June
4
by
James
Mullis,
who
is
homebuyer
plaintiff
in
the
two
Batton
homebuyer

commission
lawsuits.
The
previous
nationwide
settlement
agreements
do
not
resolve
the
Batton
plaintiffs’
claims
as
they
filed
their
suits
as
buyers
rather
than
sellers.

The
filing
of
this
appeal
comes
after
the
Batton
plaintiffs

attempted
to
block
the
final
approval
hearing
for
the
settlement
agreements.
A
day
prior
to
the
hearing,
the
Batton
plaintiffs
filed
a
motion
for
a
temporary
restraining
order
and
preliminary
injunction,
seeking
to
prevent
the
three
real
estate
firms
from
filing
a
proposed
order
granting
final
approval
of
their
settlement
agreements.
Judge
Andrea
R.
Wood,
who
is
overseeing
the
two
Batton
suits
in
Chicago,

denied
their
request.

A
second
appeal
was
filed
by

Spring
Way
Center,
the
original
home
seller
plaintiffs
in
the

copycat
commission
lawsuit
filed
in
Pennsylvania
in
December.
Like
Mullis,
the
Spring
Way
Center
also
objected
to
the
settlement
agreements
prior
to
their
final
approval,
taking
issue
with
the
“fairness
and
adequacy“
of
Anywhere’s

settlement
amount
of
$83.5
million.
During
the
final
approval
hearing,
Bough
noted
that
he
did
not
agree
with
the
Spring
Way
Center’s
objections.

Neither
of
the
appealing
parties
have
yet
to
file
arguments
as
to
why
they
believe
Bough’s
final
approval
should
be
overturned.
But
according
to
the
briefing
schedule,
they
must
file
an
appellate
brief
by
July
24,
2024.

Due
to
the
appeals,
no
one
in
the
settlement
classes
who
has
made
a
claim
will
receive
payment
until
the
appeals
have
been
resolved.
Additionally,
the
settling
parties
are
not
required
to
implement
the
business
practice
changes
they
agreed
to
in
the
settlements
until
after
the
appeals
process,
at
which
point
the
settlements
will
become
effective.

As
part
of
the
settlements,
the
three
real
estate
firms
agreed
to
various
policy
changes, including
provisions
to
no
longer
require
agents
to
be
members
of
the National
Association
of
Realtors or
follow NAR’s
Code
of
Ethics or
the
MLS
Handbook.

They
also
agreed
to
other
changes,
including
that
firms
will
require
or
encourage
agents
to
make
it
clear
to
clients
that
commissions
are
negotiable,
that
agents
will
have
the
freedom
to
set
or
negotiate
commissions
as
they
see
fit,
and
that
agents
will
not
be
required
to
make
offers
of
compensation
or
accept
offers
of
compensation
from
cooperating
brokers.

In
an
emailed
statement,
a
spokesperson
for
Anywhere
said
the
appeals
were
“neither
unusual
nor
unexpected.”

“We
have
full
confidence
that
our
settlement
is
fair,
reasonable,
and
enforceable,
and
that
the
trial
court’s
order
to
grant
it
final
approval
was
absolutely
correct,”
the
spokesperson
added.

A
spokesperson
from
RE/MAX
shared
a
similar
outlook.

“Since
entering
into
the
settlement
in
October
2023,
RE/MAX,
LLC
has
been
committed
to
obtaining
final
court
approval
releasing
all
U.S.
RE/MAX
Broker/Owners
and
affiliates
from
claims
in
the
Burnett
(formerly
Sitzer),
Moehrl,
and
Nosalek
cases.
RE/MAX,
LLC
is
pleased
the
district
court
granted
final
approval
in
May,”
the
spokesperson
wrote
in
an
email.
“That
said,
an
appeal
of
the
order
is
neither
unusual
or
unexpected,
and
RE/MAX,
LLC
will
continue
to
vigorously
defend
the
settlement
during
the
appeal
process. Ultimately,
the
Company
believes
the
settlement
is
fair
and
reasonable
and
that
the
district
court’s
order
should
be
upheld.”

Anywhere
and
RE/MAX
did
not
clarify
whether
the
appeals
would
impact
their
timelines
for
implementing
the
changes
outlined
in
the
settlement
agreements.

Keller
Williams
did
not
return
a
request
for
comment.

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