Real Estate Commission Lawsuit: Payouts, Dates, and Eligibility

If you filed a claim in the real estate commission lawsuit, your payout will likely fall somewhere between $13 and $63 per home sale, and no money will arrive until the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals rules on pending challenges to the settlements, which is expected in late summer or early fall of 2026.¹ The combined settlement pool across the National Association of Realtors and the major brokerages now exceeds $997 million, but the per-seller share is small because roughly 21 million people are in the class and attorneys’ fees take up to a third of the fund.²

How the Payout Is Calculated

Early estimates put the per-seller payout from the NAR settlement alone at around $13 after legal costs are deducted.² Once the brokerage settlements are added in and the combined pool reaches close to $1 billion, that figure could climb to roughly $50 to $63 per seller. No final number has been set.³

The actual amount each claimant receives will be determined by a court-approved formula administered by JND Legal Administration. The formula is expected to account for the total commissions a claimant paid to a broker or agent during the eligible period for the MLS where their home was listed.⁴ If the total value of all valid claims exceeds the money available for distribution, every claimant’s share will be reduced on a pro rata basis.⁵ The court approved attorneys’ fees of up to one-third of the fund, and administrative costs and service awards also come off the top before any money reaches claimants.⁶ Nearly 2.7 million claims have been submitted across the related cases.⁷

So the final per-claimant number depends on three moving parts: how many valid claims come in, what commissions each person paid, and how much the court ultimately deducts for fees and costs. Sellers who paid higher commissions on more expensive homes will see somewhat larger checks than sellers at the low end of the market, but the overall distribution is shallow by design.

When the Checks Will Go Out

No settlement checks have been mailed. The official settlement website states that payments will not go out until the claims period is over and all appeals are resolved, and advises claimants to “be patient.”⁴

Several class members objected to the settlements and appealed their approval to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. Oral arguments were heard in January 2026, and a decision is expected in late summer or early fall of 2026. NAR’s general counsel has characterized the appeals as a “routine part of complex litigation.”¹

The money is accumulating in the meantime. NAR made a $197 million payment into the settlement fund in February 2025, with a second installment of $72 million scheduled for February 2026, part of the $418 million it agreed to pay over four years.¹ None of it can be distributed until the appellate court rules.

Who Was Eligible and Whether You Can Still File

Class membership required three things: selling a home during the eligible date range, listing it on a multiple listing service anywhere in the United States, and paying a commission to a real estate brokerage in connection with the sale.⁴ Sellers who sold “for sale by owner” or who did not pay a buyer-agent commission are not eligible.

The eligible date range depends on which MLS was used:

Heartland, MARIS, Columbia Board of Realtors, or Southern Missouri Regional MLS: April 29, 2014, through the applicable settlement cutoff (February 1, 2024, for the NAR/brokerage settlements; August 17, 2024, for HomeServices).
Bright, Carolina/Canopy, Stellar, Miami, HAR, ARMLS, and roughly 15 other large MLSs: March 6, 2015, through the applicable cutoff.
MLS PIN (Massachusetts): December 17, 2016, through the applicable cutoff.
All other U.S. MLSs: generally October 31, 2019 (Keller Williams settlement) or February 1, 2020 (Anywhere and RE/MAX settlements) through the applicable cutoff.⁴

You did not need to have used a specific brokerage, such as Anywhere, RE/MAX, or Keller Williams, to be eligible. The claim filing deadline for the main NAR, Anywhere, RE/MAX, and Keller Williams settlements passed on May 9, 2025.⁸ A second wave of settlements involving Howard Hanna, William Raveis, Windermere, EXIT, and others had a deadline of December 30, 2025.⁹ The settlement website notes that late submissions may still be accepted but are not guaranteed.

How to Check the Status of a Claim

Claimants who want to check the status of a submitted claim can contact the settlement administrator, JND Legal Administration, at 1-888-995-0207 or by email at info@RealEstateCommissionLitigation.com.⁴ The administrator cannot tell you what your individual check will be worth, because the formula will not be run until after the appeals are resolved and the fund is ready for distribution.

Where the Settlement Money Comes From

The combined pool funding the eventual payouts comes from more than a dozen defendants. The largest piece is NAR’s $418 million agreement, which received final court approval on November 27, 2024.¹ The other major settlements:

HomeServices of America: $250 million, with final approval granted November 26, 2024.¹⁰
Anywhere Real Estate (formerly Realogy): $83.5 million.¹¹
Keller Williams: $70 million.¹¹
RE/MAX: $55 million.¹¹
Compass: $57.5 million (proposed).¹²
Howard Hanna, William Raveis, Windermere, EXIT, and others: a combined $42.8 million, with Howard Hanna paying $32 million of that total. Final approval was granted on February 5, 2026.¹³

Plaintiffs’ counsel have secured more than $997 million in settlements overall, with over $876 million having received final court approval as of early 2026.¹⁰

Practice Changes Took Effect Regardless

Separate from the money, the settlement required NAR to change how commissions work, and those changes took effect on August 17, 2024, applying to NAR’s more than 1.5 million members. Multiple listing services can no longer publish offers of compensation to buyer-agents. Agents representing buyers must sign a written agreement with their client before touring a home, specifying the compensation and disclosing that commissions are negotiable. Listing brokers must get the seller’s prior approval before offering compensation to a buyer’s representative.¹⁴

Those rules remain in full effect while the appeal proceeds, and the effect on actual commission rates has been modest. According to Redfin data from the first quarter of 2025, the average buyer’s agent commission was 2.4%, barely changed from 2.43% a year earlier.¹⁵ Most sellers still cover the buyer’s agent commission as an incentive to attract offers.¹⁶

1
National Association of Realtors. Oral Arguments in Sitzer-Burnett Settlement Appeal Begin Wednesday
2
The Orange County Register. Sold a Home Recently? Here’s What You’ll Get From the Realtor Settlement
3
Yahoo Finance. NAR Settlement
4
Real Estate Commission Litigation. FAQ
5
Cohen Milstein. Order Granting Final Approval of Settlement
6
Real Estate Commission Litigation. NAR FAQ
7
National Mortgage News. NAR Antitrust Cases Net Sellers Another $42M
8
Real Estate Commission Litigation. Burnett Settlement
9
Real Estate Commission Litigation. Home
10
Cohen Milstein. Moehrl v. National Association of Realtors
11
Real Estate News. Keller Williams Reaches $70M Settlement in Commissions Case
12
The National Trial Lawyers. Compass Agrees to Pay $57.5M to Settle Real Estate Lawsuits
13
Real Estate Commission Litigation. Gibson and Keel Settlements FAQ
14
National Association of Realtors. NAR Settlement FAQs
15
The Mortgage Point. Measuring the Impact of NAR Settlements on Agent Commissions
16
CapCenter. What’s Actually Changed Since the NAR Settlement