U.S. real estate brokerages must face home sellers’ class action over commissions

Re/Max Holdings

29/03/2023 22:28

By Mike Scarcella
       March 29 (Reuters) - A federal judge in Chicago on
Wednesday ruled that home sellers accusing the National
Association of Realtors and a group of real estate brokerages of
conspiring to inflate commission rates can move forward as a
class action. 
    U.S. District Judge Andrea Wood's decision grants
class-action status to past home sellers seeking more than $13
billion in damages and creates a separate class of current and
future  sellers who want a court injunction that bars subsequent
violations of U.S. antitrust law.
    The plaintiffs are seven home sellers. The judge's order
said membership in each class "can be expected to number in the
thousands, at minimum." 
    Designation as a class means the plaintiffs' can pursue
large-scale claims against the National Association of Realtors,
RE/MAX LLC  RMAX.N , Long & Foster Inc and other corporate
defendants as opposed to filing individual claims for monetary
damages.
    The judge's order was not a ruling on the merits of the
allegations, which can still be contested at a later stage. The
defendants have denied the conspiracy allegations.
    In a statement, The National Association of Realtors said it
was "disappointed" in the decision and defended industry listing
practices.
    The lawsuit challenges a requirement that sellers make
"blanket unilateral offers of compensation" to buyers' brokers
when a home goes on sale via a multiple listing service. That
system puts pressure on sellers to offer high commissions to
attract buyers' brokers, the sellers claimed. 
    NAR spokesperson Mantill Williams said this practice "saves
sellers time and money by having so many buyer brokers
participating in that local marketplace and thus creates a
larger pool of buyers for sellers." 
    A RE/MAX spokesperson said the company did not comment on
pending litigation. Long & Foster declined to comment.
    The class seeking money damages includes certain home
sellers who paid a commission between March 2015 and December
2020 in states including Texas, Florida, New Jersey, Ohio,
Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina and Colorado, court
filings show.    
    The case is Moehrl et al v. The National Association of
Realtors et al, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of
Illinois, No. 1:19-cv-01610.

    <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
National Association of Realtors' antitrust challenge rejected
by U.S. Supreme Court    https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/national-association-realtors-antitrust-challenge-rejected-by-us-supreme-court-2023-01-09/
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 (Reporting by Mike Scarcella; editing by Leigh Jones and
Cynthia Osterman)
 ((Mike.Scarcella@thomsonreuters.com;))