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Two of the biggest brokerages in the country will no longer require their agents to be members of the National Association of Realtors following settlements they signed in a pair of lawsuits challenging broker commission and MLS access rules.

Anywhere Real Estate, the parent company of brokerage brands like Coldwell Banker, Century 21, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, ERA and Sotheby’s International, will pay $83.5 million to the plaintiffs in a pair of antitrust lawsuits against NAR and many of the nation’s biggest brokerages, known as Moehrl and Burnett.

In addition, it will not require agents to be NAR members and reform or eliminate internal rules that set minimum commission requirements or might deter buyer or seller clients from negotiating commission rates or let agents steer buyer clients to properties based on sellers’ commission offers.

“As an industry leader, Anywhere strongly believes in the value of both buyer and seller agents to help consumers successfully navigate one of life’s most expensive and impactful transactions, and that consumers will make the choice to pay for their valuable service without mandatory rules,” Sue Yannaccone, chief executive officer and president, Anywhere Brands and Anywhere Advisors, said in a statement.

For its part RE/MAX will pay $55 million to the plaintiffs in the two lawsuits and commit to similar changes in its own business.

The settlements came just days after brokerage and listings portal Redfin said it would leave NAR and require “many” of its agents leave the group as well, citing fallout from a sexual harassment scandal at the very top of the NAR hierarchy and the various antitrust agents.

CEO Glenn Kelman announced the decision in a public post on the company’s blog Oct. 2. The company had earlier resigned its seat on NAR’s board in June, before a sexual harassment scandal took down the association’s 2023 president, Utah broker Kenny Parcell, in August.

Kelman characterized the Parcell scandal, and NAR’s response, as the deciding factor, but said the company had already been uncomfortable” with the association’s rules on buyer-broker commissions, which both prevent sellers from listing homes on NAR-affiliated listings services that don’t offer a buyer’s agent commission and which prevent Redfin.com from showing for-sale-by-owner listings alongside agent-listed ones.

The overall effect on Massachusetts’ local and statewide Realtor organizations remains to be seen. The main multiple listings service, MLS PIN, is not owned by a Realtor group and doesn’t require NAR membership to participate. However, the MLSs that cover the Berkshires, Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket are Realtor trade group-owned.