The proposed settlement in the National Association of Realtors’ commission lawsuits has created problems for seller’s agents as well as the more obvious questions buyer’s agents face.
Federal antitrust prosecutors have asked the judge overseeing a lawsuit against Massachusetts’ main multiple-listings service to reject a proposed settlement in the case, arguing instead that buyers should be the only ones to pay their agents’ commissions.
The deal in the two lawsuits, known as “Sitzer/Burnett” and “Batton 2” after their plaintiffs, also calls on Keller Williams to take several steps aimed at providing homebuyers and sellers with more transparency over the commissions paid to real estate agents.
A recent court ruling on real estate agent commissions has some industry experts wondering whether the current compensation system can survive much longer in Massachusetts and across the nation.
Regardless of how the judge rules following last week’s verdict in the “bombshell” commission lawsuits, it’s clear that brokers and agents who are already moving to adapt will likely be the winners.
The most important step that the industry can take across the board is to make buyer-broker agreements mandatory in every transaction. But more may need to be done depending on the case’s final disposition.
Not quite 48 hours after a Missouri jury awarded home-sellers nearly $1.8 billion in damages in an anti-trust lawsuit against the National Association of Realtors over real estate agent commission practices, the association’s chief executive is stepping down.
A Missouri jury handed down a verdict Tuesday afternoon that could upend the residential real estate industry and slap its biggest trade group and several major brokerages with at least $1.8 billion in fines.
A new report by researchers at investment firm Keefe, Bruyette & Woods is warning that the real estate industry could be upended by a trio of lawsuits over agent commissions, including one involving Massachusetts’ main multiple listings service.
A federal judge has given her preliminary approval to a deal that would settle a lawsuit between three local home sellers and the state’s largest multiple listings service, MLS PIN.
