Real Estate Commission Settlement: Rule Changes and Payouts

The real estate commission settlement is a group of antitrust class-action deals — anchored by the National Association of Realtors’ $418 million agreement — that resolved claims home sellers were forced to pay inflated commissions to buyers’ agents. Combined payouts across NAR and the major brokerages have passed $1 billion, and two rule changes took effect on August 17, 2024: buyer-agent commissions can no longer be advertised on the Multiple Listing Service, and agents must sign a written compensation agreement with a buyer before showing a home. Claim deadlines have passed, no money has reached class members yet, and distribution is on hold pending a federal appeal.

Who Paid What

The deals grew out of Burnett v. National Association of Realtors, a 2019 Missouri class action in which a federal jury in October 2023 ordered NAR and several brokerages to pay nearly $1.8 billion in damages for conspiring to require sellers to cover buyer-broker commissions.1Syracuse Law Review. How Burnett v. NAR Could Change the Real Estate Industry Rather than pursue the verdict on appeal, defendants settled in waves.

NAR agreed in March 2024 to pay $418 million over four years and to change the rules at the heart of the case, while continuing to deny wrongdoing. The NAR deal also resolved claims against nearly all NAR members, all state and local Realtor associations, association-owned MLSs, and brokerages with 2022 residential transaction volume of $2 billion or less.2National Association of Realtors. The Truth About the NAR Settlement Agreement

Larger brokerages settled separately:

Judge Stephen R. Bough granted final approval of the NAR and HomeServices settlements on November 26, 2024.7Real Estate News. Judge Approves $700 Million in Deals With NAR, HomeServices

The Two Rule Changes That Took Effect

The practice changes went live on August 17, 2024, and apply to any agent using an MLS.8National Association of Realtors. NAR Provides Final Reminder of August 17 Practice Change Implementation

No Commission Offers on the MLS

Multiple Listing Services can no longer display offers of compensation to buyer’s agents. Before August 2024, a seller typically listed an offer — commonly 2.5% to 3% of the sale price — payable to whoever brought the buyer. That field is gone from every Realtor-owned MLS. A seller can still offer to pay the buyer’s agent; the offer just has to be made outside the MLS through direct negotiation. Buyer concessions like closing-cost credits can still be advertised on the MLS.9National Association of Realtors. What the NAR Settlement Means for Home Buyers and Sellers

Written Buyer-Agent Agreements Before Any Tour

If you want to tour a home with an agent, whether in person or by live virtual tour, you now sign an agreement first. The document must state the agent’s compensation in specific, objective terms (a flat fee, a percentage, or an hourly rate), note that broker fees are fully negotiable and not set by law, and cap the agent’s total compensation so they cannot collect more from any source than the agreement says.9National Association of Realtors. What the NAR Settlement Means for Home Buyers and Sellers Casual conversations at an open house or general inquiries about an agent’s services do not trigger the requirement.10National Association of Realtors. NAR Settlement FAQs

What This Means If You’re Buying or Selling

If you’re selling, listing a home no longer carries an automatic obligation to pay the buyer’s agent. Many sellers still offer that compensation to attract offers, especially in competitive markets, but the old default of a standard 3% has been removed from the structure.11Ohio State Bar Association. NAR Settlement Brings New Changes to Buying and Selling Real Estate

If you’re buying, you have to decide upfront how to pay your agent. Interview more than one, compare fee structures, and settle the terms before you start touring. In practice, many sellers are still covering some or all of the buyer-agent fee, so the actual check often still comes out of the seller’s proceeds — it just gets negotiated outside the listing.12Yahoo Finance. NAR Settlement

One stated goal of the changes was to limit “steering” — agents guiding buyers toward homes offering higher commissions rather than homes that fit the buyer. With compensation hidden from the MLS, agents have to communicate directly to work out terms.12Yahoo Finance. NAR Settlement

What Commissions Actually Look Like Now

Rates have moved less than the structural change might suggest. A Redfin analysis published in May 2025 put the national average buyer’s agent commission at 2.40% in the first quarter of 2025, compared with 2.36% in the third quarter of 2024 (when the rules took effect) and 2.43% in the first quarter of 2024. Homes priced at $1 million or more fell to 2.17% from 2.30% a year earlier, while homes under $500,000 ticked up to 2.49%.13Redfin. Real Estate Commissions

Negotiation is happening more often but is far from universal. In an early-2025 Redfin survey, 37.4% of sellers tried to negotiate their agent’s commission and 27.2% of buyers did; roughly 46% of sellers and 48% of buyers did not try at all.13Redfin. Real Estate Commissions

Who Qualifies for a Payout and How Much

The settlement class covers home sellers who listed a property on a U.S. MLS and paid a brokerage commission during specific windows that vary by MLS. For the original Missouri-area MLSs in Burnett, the window starts as early as April 29, 2014; for most other U.S. MLSs, periods generally begin between 2015 and 2020. All class periods end on February 1, 2024. You did not need to list with one of the settling companies to qualify.14Real Estate Commission Litigation. FAQ

Both filing deadlines have closed. The main deadline — covering NAR, HomeServices, Anywhere, RE/MAX, Keller Williams, Compass, Redfin, and most others — was May 9, 2025.15Real Estate Commission Litigation. NAR Settlement Dates A second deadline of December 30, 2025 applied to a later wave of settling defendants including William Raveis, Howard Hanna, EXIT, and Windermere.16Real Estate Commission Litigation. Real Estate Commission Litigation No extensions have been announced. More than 2.5 million claims were submitted.17Cohen Milstein. Order Granting Final Approval, Gibson v. NAR

Individual payments will be modest. With roughly 21 million eligible sellers and attorneys’ fees likely taking up to a third of the fund, early estimates put per-person payouts somewhere between $13 and $63 depending on claim volume and how much of the combined pool is ultimately available.18Orange County Register. Sold a Home Recently? Here’s What You’ll Get From the $418 Million Realtor Settlement Eighth Circuit courts typically approve attorneys’ fees of one-third of the common fund in complex class actions.17Cohen Milstein. Order Granting Final Approval, Gibson v. NAR

Why No Money Has Gone Out Yet

After final approval in November 2024, several class members who objected to the settlements appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Until those appeals are resolved, the settlements cannot become final and payments cannot be released.19Real Estate Commission Litigation. NAR Settlement

A three-judge panel heard 90 minutes of oral argument on January 14, 2026, in St. Louis, focused on whether the settlement amounts were fair and whether groups like people who both bought and sold during the class period were properly included.20Real Estate News. Appellants Have Their Final Say About Commissions Settlements NAR General Counsel Jon Waclawski has said a decision could come by late summer or early fall of 2026. If the court vacates the settlements, litigation could reopen in multiple jurisdictions, including the Moehrl case in Illinois.21National Association of Realtors. Oral Arguments in Sitzer-Burnett Settlement Appeal

NAR is paying on its own schedule regardless of the appeal: $197 million was paid in February 2025, with another $72 million scheduled for February 2026. The practice changes stay in effect during the appeal and are not subject to being suspended.20Real Estate News. Appellants Have Their Final Say About Commissions Settlements

Related Litigation You May Hear About

The seller cases are not the whole picture. A parallel line of lawsuits — Batton v. National Association of Realtors in the Northern District of Illinois — brings the same commission-inflation theory on behalf of buyers. Keller Williams settled Batton for $20 million in February 2026, and RE/MAX settled for $8.5 million in March 2026. NAR and Anywhere Real Estate remain defendants, with plaintiffs estimating potential damages in the billions when they sought class certification in September 2025.22Real Estate News. Keller Williams Is First to Settle in Batton, Will Pay $20M In a separate buyer case, Tuccori, a federal judge granted preliminary approval in May 2026 to $106 million in settlements, including $52.25 million from NAR and $30 million from HomeServices.23HousingWire. Keller Williams Batton Settlement

In Massachusetts, Nosalek v. MLS Property Information Network ended with MLS PIN paying $3.95 million to state home sellers, approved on September 29, 2025, after the Department of Justice pushed for stronger terms and ultimately withdrew its objection.24Real Estate News. Judge Approves MLS PIN Deal Plagued by Delays, DOJ Scrutiny The DOJ has warned repeatedly that none of these private settlements shields the industry from future antitrust enforcement.25Inman. DOJ Removes Nosalek Settlement Objection With a Strong Warning