The brokerages and non-Realtor-owned MLSs that decided to opt in to the National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) commission lawsuit settlement agreement can breathe a sigh of relief.
As expected, Judge Stephen R. Bough, who is overseeing the Sitzer/Burnett and Gibson/Umpa suits, granted preliminary approval to the 13 brokerages and 15 MLSs that chose to settle the commission lawsuits via the opt-in mechanism negotiated by NAR in its settlement.
Through Bough’s approval, the MLSs and brokerages that opted in to NAR’s settlement have been added to the larger case. The final approval of these settlements is slated to take place on Nov. 26, 2024, alongside the final approval hearing for the NAR settlement.
In total, the 28 parties that have opted in are contributing an additional $30.6 million to the settlement fund. The amount that each party will pay was determined either through the formula in NAR’s settlement agreement or through a review of the firm’s “internal financial statements and arms-length negotiations.”
Although the plaintiffs’ motion for preliminary approval of the settlements faced no opposition and Bough had already granted preliminary approval to NAR’s settlement and the opt-in mechanism defined within, the plaintiffs said they were asking the court for preliminary approval “out of an abundance of caution.”
