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The last major brokerage still locked in a court battle over real estate agent commissions appears to be waving a white flag.

According to separate reports in the New York Times and Inman, which cite company executives, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices has agreed to pay $250 million to settle claims against it in Sitzer v. National Association of Realtors, the federal antitrust lawsuit that claimed NAR and the nation’s biggest brokerages engaged in a form of price-fixing to keep buyer’s agent commissions high.

NAR and the brokerages involved have denied the claim, but most settled before a jury found against NAR and HomeServices last fall and recommended a multi-billion-dollar penalty for the trade group and the brokerage franchiser. Earlier this year, NAR agreed to settle the suit in exchange for several rule changes and a $418 million payment.

Judge Stephen Bough granted preliminary approval to NAR’s settlement deal earlier this week.

As of late Friday morning, no filing for HomeServices’ settlement had been posted on the court docket in the Sitzer case.

Many Massachusetts brokerages have said they are already preparing for the new landscape created by the settlement, with some industry leaders predicting that commission rates are not likely to fall substantially, even if first-time buyers may face hurdles coming up with money to pay a commission when a seller doesn’t offer to pay it with a credit in the final sales agreement.

Report: HomeServices to Settle Commission Lawsuits

by James Sanna time to read: 1 min
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