November 27, 2024
A Missouri federal judge granted final approval Tuesday to the National Association of Realtors’ antitrust settlement with home sellers, signing off on a $418 million payment and changes to broker commission rules, as NAR and the plaintiffs assailed the U.S. Department of Justice for raising last-minute concerns about the deal.
NAR announced U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Bough’s approval, which was issued from the bench during a fairness hearing. The association said a written decision is expected soon on a deal it said releases from liability more than 1.4 million trade group members as well as its local associations, multiple listing services and all brokerages helmed by NAR members with residential transactions of $2 billion or less in 2022.
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The settlement ends NAR rules that required brokers working for sellers to make an offer to compensate a buyer-side broker when listing a property. Home sellers contended the rules violated antitrust law by eliminating competition between brokers working for buyers and resulted in sellers paying inflated commissions of around 3% to each broker.
The litigation also contended the rules caused buyer brokers not to show homes with lower commissions being offered or to only show homes with higher commissions.
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The home sellers are represented by Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC, Susman Godfrey LLP, Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP, Boulware Law LLC, Ketchmark & McCreight PC and Williams Dirks Dameron LLC.
Read NAR Buyer-Broker Settlement Approved Over DOJ Concerns.