Homebuyer Antitrust Settlement

A nationwide class action settlement has been reached on behalf of homebuyers who purchased a home listed on a multiple listing service (“MLS”) in the United States where a commission was paid to any brokerage in connection with the transaction. Other real estate brokerages, franchisors, and real estate companies can now opt-in to the settlement.

The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois has preliminarily approved a first-of-its-kind nationwide class settlement resolving antitrust claims brought by homebuyers against real estate companies. The lawsuit claims that real estate brokerages, franchisors, and other real estate companies participated in a conspiracy to raise, fix, maintain, or stabilize real estate broker commissions in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act and various state laws.

The real estate companies that have agreed to participate in the Settlement currently include At World Properties, LLC, Baird & Warner, Inc., Real Estate One, Inc., Silvercreek Realty Group LLC, Equity Realtors, LLC d/b/a Equity Real Estate, NextHome, Inc., Realty Executives Intl. Svcs. LLC, Shorewest Realtors, Inc., Side, Inc., Engel & Volkers Americas, Inc. and Engel & Volkers GmbH. The Court has not decided whether these Settling Defendants did anything wrong and the Settling Defendants deny any wrongdoing.

The Settlement includes an opt-in procedure where nonparties, such as other real estate brokerages, can elect to participate in the Settlement and obtain a release for the claims covered by the Settlement in exchange for contributing to the Settlement’s monetary relief. The Court overseeing the Settlement has appointed Judge James F. Holderman (Ret.), the former Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, to serve as Special Master for Mediation. As part of this appointment, Judge Holderman is available to conduct mediations with non-parties who may wish to opt-in to the Settlement.