Real Estate Commission Lawsuit: Settlements, Buyer Suits, and Appeals

The real estate commission lawsuit is a sprawling antitrust case that began in 2019 when a class of home sellers sued the National Association of Realtors and several large brokerages, arguing that industry rules artificially inflated the commissions sellers paid. A Missouri jury agreed in October 2023 and returned a nearly $1.8 billion verdict. That verdict triggered more than $1 billion in follow-on settlements, forced NAR to change how agents can advertise and collect compensation, and set off parallel lawsuits brought by homebuyers that are still being litigated.¹

The Case and the Verdict

The lead case, Burnett v. National Association of Realtors (also called Sitzer/Burnett), was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri, Case No. 4:19-cv-00332-SRB, before Judge Stephen R. Bough. The sellers alleged that NAR and cooperating brokerages required listing agents to offer compensation to buyer brokers through Multiple Listing Service platforms, which kept commission rates elevated in violation of federal antitrust law.¹

On October 31, 2023, the jury found NAR, HomeServices of America (a Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary), and Keller Williams Realty liable and returned damages of nearly $1.8 billion, an amount subject to trebling under antitrust law.²

The Settlements

Rather than pursue appeals with treble damages looming, defendants settled in waves. The combined pool now exceeds $1 billion.³

NAR agreed to pay $418 million over four years, resolving claims in both Burnett and the parallel Moehrl v. NAR case in the Northern District of Illinois. Judge Bough granted final approval on November 26, 2024. NAR paid $197 million in February 2025, with a $72 million payment scheduled for February 2026.⁴⁵

HomeServices of America settled for $250 million, covering 51 brands, nearly 70,000 agents, and more than 300 franchisees. The company described the deal as an after-tax charge of roughly $140 million payable over four years, and the release explicitly excluded HomeServices’ parent, Berkshire Hathaway Energy.⁶

Anywhere Real Estate and RE/MAX collectively paid $138.5 million, and Keller Williams paid $70 million, all finally approved on May 9, 2024. Keller Williams also agreed to cooperate by providing depositions, trial testimony, and documents.⁷⁸

A second wave in the related Gibson v. NAR case (Case No. 23-cv-788-SRB) brought in Compass ($57.5 million), Douglas Elliman ($7.75 million), Redfin ($9.2 million), The Real Brokerage, Realty ONE, @properties, Engel & Völkers, HomeSmart, and United Real Estate, with final approval on November 4, 2024.⁹¹⁰

A later consolidated group of nine defendants in Gibson and Keel v. Charles Rutenberg Realty contributed more than $42 million combined, including West USA Realty, William Raveis, Howard Hanna, EXIT Realty, Windermere, Lyon, Charles Rutenberg, My Home, and Tierra Antigua.¹¹

A separate Georgia case, 1925 Hooper LLC v. NAR (Case No. 1:23-cv-05392), produced a $44.05 million settlement with eXp World Holdings, Weichert, Atlanta Communities, and Higher Tech (doing business as Mark Spain Real Estate). eXp paid $34 million of that total. Final approval came on March 31, 2026, with fund distribution scheduled roughly 30 days after appeals resolve or July 31, 2026, whichever is later.¹²

How the Industry Actually Changed

Practice changes required by the NAR settlement took effect on August 17, 2024, and all NAR-affiliated MLSs had to comply by September 16, 2024. Two rules matter most.

First, offers of buyer-broker compensation can no longer be advertised on the MLS. Sellers may still negotiate with buyer agents outside the MLS, but the default of bundling both agents’ commissions into the listing is gone.¹³

Second, an agent working with a buyer must sign a written agreement with that buyer before showing a home. The agreement has to state the specific compensation amount, disclose that fees are fully negotiable and not set by law, and bar the agent from collecting more than the agreed-upon amount from any source.¹⁴

Two related agency actions cleared the way for buyers to pay their own agents when needed. The Department of Veterans Affairs lifted its ban on buyers paying for agent representation effective August 10, 2024, and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac confirmed that seller-compensated buyer agents remain eligible for agency-backed financing.¹⁴

Can Sellers Still File a Claim?

For most sellers, no. The claim deadlines have already passed. To be eligible, a person had to have sold a home during a specified date range, listed it on a U.S. MLS, and paid a brokerage commission. Sellers did not need to have used an agent affiliated with any settling brokerage. Claims were managed by JND Legal Administration.⁷

Date ranges varied by MLS. Sellers on Missouri-area MLSs had windows reaching back to April 2014, while most other systems started between 2015 and 2020, all ending February 1, 2024. The MLS PIN system in Massachusetts had a range starting December 17, 2016. The claim deadline for the earlier settlements (Anywhere, RE/MAX, Keller Williams, NAR, HomeServices, and the first Gibson wave) passed on May 9, 2025. The deadline for the later group including West USA passed on December 30, 2025. Over 2.5 million claims were submitted.⁷¹⁵

The 1925 Hooper settlement remains subject to a later distribution timeline tied to any appeals.¹²

The Buyer Lawsuits Still in Play

The original case was brought by sellers. A separate track of litigation argues that buyers were also harmed because inflated commissions were baked into home prices.

Batton

Filed in 2021 in the Northern District of Illinois, Batton targets NAR’s now-defunct “Participation Rule.” Plaintiffs sought class certification in September 2025 to represent millions of homebuyers, with potential damages in the billions. In February 2026, Keller Williams became the first Batton defendant to settle, agreeing to pay $20 million. Other defendants include Anywhere Real Estate, RE/MAX, NAR, Compass, eXp, Redfin, Weichert, United Real Estate, Howard Hanna, and Douglas Elliman.⁸¹⁶

Tuccori

In Tuccori et al. v. At World Properties, NAR opted into a settlement on April 10, 2026, agreeing to pay $52.25 million into a fund for homebuyers, with most payments due after June 2028. On May 29, 2026, a federal judge granted preliminary approval to $106 million in combined Tuccori opt-in settlements, which include $30 million from HomeServices.¹⁷¹⁸

The Batton plaintiffs have moved to block the Tuccori deal, calling it a “prototypical reverse auction” that sells buyers’ claims short. They noted that the $52.25 million figure is roughly 12% of what NAR agreed to pay sellers in Burnett.¹⁹

Appeals and Remaining Defendants

Several class members filed appeals with the Eighth Circuit. Spring Way Center LLC adopted objections originally raised by University of Buffalo law professor Tanya Monestier and attorneys at Knie & Shealy, challenging the practice changes, attorney fee awards, the nationwide scope of the release, and what objectors called “arbitrary” thresholds for calculating settlement amounts. Plaintiff James Mullis separately argued that the settlements improperly require homebuyers to release claims distinct from seller claims.²⁰²¹

A three-judge panel, including Judges Lavenski R. Smith, Ralph R. Erickson, and Jonathan A. Kobes, heard oral argument in early 2026. NAR’s general counsel said a decision is expected in late summer or early fall of 2026. The appeals do not stay the practice changes already in effect, but benefits from the Anywhere, RE/MAX, and Keller Williams settlements cannot be distributed until they resolve.⁵²²

Two notable holdouts remain. Berkshire Hathaway Energy, the parent excluded from HomeServices’ $250 million release, must proceed to trial. In April 2026, Judge Bough denied the parent’s motion for summary judgment in Gibson, noting that HomeServices had previously argued in Burnett that Berkshire Hathaway and Berkshire Hathaway Energy were “separate and distinct legal entities” with no obligation to cover HomeServices’ liabilities. The court used that earlier position against the parent’s attempt to claim the subsidiary’s settlement. Crye-Leike Real Estate has also not settled.²³

The Department of Justice has also stayed involved. In December 2025, it filed a Statement of Interest in Davis v. Hanna Holdings, opposing Howard Hanna’s motion to dismiss and arguing that trade-association rules governing commissions are not automatically exempt from the per se rule against horizontal price fixing. In March 2026, Judge Wendy Beetlestone denied most of Howard Hanna’s motion, finding the horizontal conspiracy allegations plausible. Assistant Attorney General Abigail Slater of the Antitrust Division has said that “antitrust laws are key to safeguarding competition, which reduces prices and improves services for homebuyers.”²⁴²⁵

Have Commissions Actually Dropped?

Not really, at least not yet. Multiple studies show rates roughly where they were before the settlement.

An AccountTECH study of more than 224,000 transactions found buyer agent commissions averaging 2.55% as of January 2025, identical to a year earlier. Listing agent commissions dipped to 2.69% in November 2024 and recovered to 2.73%. A Redfin analysis of Q4 2024 data put buyer agent commissions at 2.37%, down from 2.45% a year prior, with larger drops in the luxury segment. A Real Brokerage survey found that 55% of buyer agents and 64% of listing agents reported minimal change compared to pre-settlement levels.²⁶

A Federal Reserve analysis published in May 2025 found that commissions remained at “relatively high levels” and that sellers’ agents had found ways to keep sharing commission information outside the MLS. The researchers noted that relaxation of NAR’s Clear Cooperation Policy could further complicate any downward pressure on fees.²⁷

The clearest change so far is structural: compensation is now negotiated deal by deal and put in writing before showings. Sellers still frequently offer buyer-agent compensation as a concession within the purchase contract, but the automatic MLS-advertised split is gone. Real estate figure Barbara Corcoran called the settlement’s primary result “total confusion” across the industry while saying written buyer representation agreements that spell out services and fees will “make a clear difference” for transparency.¹³

1
Syracuse Law Review. How Burnett v NAR Could Change the Real Estate Industry
2
United States District Court, Western District of Missouri. Class Action 19-cv-332
3
Real Estate Commission Litigation. Real Estate Commission Litigation Settlement
4
Cohen Milstein. Order Granting Final Approval of Settlement
5
National Association of Realtors. Oral Arguments in Sitzer-Burnett Settlement Appeal Begin
6
Courthouse News Service. Berkshire Hathaways Real Estate Firm to Pay $250 Million
7
Real Estate Commission Litigation. Frequently Asked Questions
8
Real Estate News. Keller Williams Is First to Settle in Batton, Will Pay $20M
9
National Mortgage News. What You Need to Know About Recent Broker Commission Cases
10
Real Estate Commission Litigation. Gibson Settlement FAQ
11
Real Estate Commission Litigation. Gibson and Keel Settlements
12
Nationwide Real Estate Commission Settlement. 1925 Hooper Settlement
13
National Association of Realtors. What the NAR Settlement Means for Home Buyers and Sellers
14
National Association of Realtors. Guide to Upcoming Practice Changes for Real Estate Professionals
15
Cohen Milstein. Order Granting Final Approval, Gibson v. NAR
16
HousingWire. Keller Williams Batton Settlement
17
National Association of Realtors. NAR Reaches $52.25M Settlement in Tuccori Homebuyer Class Action
18
National Association of Realtors. Judge Preliminarily Approves Tuccori Home Buyer Class Action Settlement
19
Real Estate News. Batton Plaintiffs Move to Block NAR Deal in Commissions Case
20
HousingWire. NAR Settlement Approval Court Appeal
21
Bloomberg Law. Huge Realtor Settlement Appeals Get Probed for Fairness, Scope
22
Real Estate Commission Litigation. Burnett Settlement Status
23
Real Estate News. Gibson Claims Against Berkshire Hathaway Energy Will Proceed
24
Real Estate News. DOJ Weighs In on Another Commissions Lawsuit
25
RISMedia. Buyer Commission Lawsuit Against Howard Hanna Will Move Forward
26
Plus Relocation. Buyer Agent Commissions: A Post-NAR Settlement Snapshot
27
Federal Reserve. Commissions and Omissions: Trends in Real Estate Broker Compensation