The list of brokerages that have settled the commission lawsuits is getting longer. On Wednesday, Higher Tech Realty, dba Mark Spain Real Estate, filed a notice informing the U.S. District Court in Atlanta that it had reached a nationwide settlement of the commission lawsuits with the plaintiffs in the Phillips suit.
Neither the terms of the settlement or the settlement amount have been disclosed.
Mark Spain Real Estate operates in Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, Florida, South Carolina and Texas. In 2023, the firm recorded 8,629 transaction sides for $2.8 billion in volume, according to RealTrends Verified data.
According to the filing, the parties will be filing for preliminary approval of their settlement in the coming days.
Originally filed in November 2023, nearly a month after the jury verdict in the Sitzer/Burnett suit, the Phillips case accuses real estate industry players of colluding to artificially inflate real estate agent commissions.
In settling the commission lawsuit, Mark Spain Real Estate joins several other major industry players. These include the National Association of Realtors, Fathom Realty, NextHome, The Keyes Co., HomeSmart, Redfin, eXp World Holdings, United Real Estate, Douglas Elliman, Realty One Group, At World Properties, Anywhere, RE/MAX, Keller Williams, Compass, HomeServices of America and The Real Brokerage.
None of the parties involved in the settlement responded to HousingWire’s request for comment.