Homebuyer Antitrust 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 claims in the Litigation arise out of an alleged antitrust conspiracy among the National Association of REALTORS® (“NAR”) and real estate brokers and franchisors. The Plaintiffs allege that the NAR promulgated anticompetitive rules designed to keep brokers’ commissions artificially elevated, and that the Defendants and their co-conspirators adopted, implemented, and enforced those unlawful restraints in residential real estate transactions. The Plaintiffs claim that this conspiracy allegedly impaired competition in the market for residential real estate broker services nationwide to the detriment of homebuyers, who unwittingly paid the inflated commissions as part of their respective home purchases.

There are eleven defendants who are participating as initial “Settling Defendants”: 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 (together, “Settling Defendants”). Additionally, Settlement Class Counsel have secured agreements from a number of additional Defendants to opt-in to the Settlement through the Settlement’s opt-in procedure explained below.

The Settlement Class includes: All persons who purchased a home that was listed on an MLS anywhere in the United States where a commission was paid to any brokerage in connection with the transaction during the Class Period.

The Class Period is defined as follows:

• For homes in Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Vermont, Wisconsin, and Wyoming, the Class Period is December 8, 2017, to the date of Class Notice.
• For homes in Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, and Missouri, the Class Period is December 8, 2018, to the date of Class Notice.
• For all other homes across the United States, the Class Period is December 8, 2019, to the date of Class Notice.

Excluded from the Settlement Class are persons who submit a valid request to be excluded from the Settlement Class; persons who have separately released the Released Claims against a Settling Defendant in a court approved class settlement in Burnett et al. v. The National Association of Realtors, No. 19-cv-332 (W.D. Mo.), Gibson et al. v. The National Association of Realtors, No. 23-cv-00788 (W.D. Mo.), or Keel et al. v. House of Seven Gables Real Estate, Inc., No. 25-cv-00055 (W.D. Mo.), but only as to that Settling Defendant; the Parties’ counsel; the Special Master for Mediation; the Court and staff to whom the Litigation is assigned; and any immediate family members of the Court or its staff.

This Settlement does not overlap with any of the existing home seller settlements. Rather, this Settlement resolves the claims of homebuyers who were carved out of the home seller settlements. The class definitions and releases in the home seller settlements are limited to the claims of individuals who sold a home during those settlements’ class periods. See, e.g., Order at 60, 66, Burnett v. The Nat’l Assoc. of Realtors, No. 4:19-cv-00332-SRB (W.D. Mo. Nov. 27, 2024), ECF No. 1622 (“[P]eople who did not sell during the relevant time, and may have buyer-only claims, are completely unaffected [by the Settlement] because they are not part of the Settlement Class. . . . Such ‘buyer only’ individuals have released nothing and can litigate indirect purchaser buyer claims any way they desire . . . .”). This Settlement encompasses all outstanding homebuyer claims that were left unresolved by the home seller settlements.

As outlined in Section G of the Settlement Agreement, any real estate brokerage, franchisor, or other real estate company may participate in the Settlement and obtain relief as an “Opt-In Settlor.” There are three (3) options for doing so:

Option 1: The non-party and one or more Plaintiffs reach an agreement that resolves Released Claims following non-binding mediation or otherwise. Any non-binding mediation will occur before the Special Master for Mediation, or another agreed upon mediator. The costs of the mediation shall be split evenly between Settlement Class Counsel and the non-party. All settlement discussions and materials exchanged during such settlement negotiations, including the mediation, will be kept strictly confidential unless and until filed with the Court.

Option 2: If the non-party is a party to a class settlement finally approved in Burnett, Gibson, or Keel, the non-party agrees to be bound by the terms of an Opt-In Agreement, deemed offered by Plaintiff’s as resolution for the claims against the non-party specified therein, and agrees among other things to pay total monetary consideration into the Global Settlement Fund equal to 25% of the non-party’s settlement payment amount in Burnett, Gibson, or Keel.

Option 3: If the non-party is a real estate brokerage, franchisor, or other real estate company, the non-party agrees to be bound by the terms of an Opt-In Agreement, deemed offered by Plaintiff as resolution for the claims against the non-party specified therein, and agrees among other things to pay total monetary consideration into the Global Settlement Fund equal to 0.0005 multiplied by the non-party’s average annual Total Transaction Volume (as defined in the Opt-In Agreement) over the most recent four calendar years.

The Court has appointed former U.S. District Court Chief Judge James F. Holderman (Ret.) of JAMS Chicago to serve as Special Master for Mediation to facilitate the resolution of terms for non-parties to participate in the settlement as Opt-In Settlors.

The Court has set April 13, 2026 as the end of the Opt-In Period, which is the deadline by which all steps of the opt-in process must be completed. Any brokerage interested in participating as an Opt-In Settlor must contact Settlement Class Counsel sufficiently far enough in advance of the end of the Opt-In Period ending to ensure that there is enough time to complete the opt-in process and any settlement negotiations.

Yes. Upon the final approval of the Settlement, opt-in settlors will be released from any and all manner of claims, demands, actions, suits, and causes of action, whether individual, class, representative, or otherwise in nature, for damages, restitution, disgorgement, interest, costs, expenses, attorneys’ fees, fines, civil or other penalties, or other payment of money, or for injunctive, declaratory, or other equitable relief, whenever incurred, whether directly, indirectly, derivatively, or otherwise, whether known or unknown, suspected or unsuspected, in law or in equity, that any Releasing Party ever had, now has, or hereafter can, shall, or may have and that have accrued as of the date of Class Notice of the Settlement arising from or related to the Released Claims.

Following the conclusion of the Opt-In Period, Plaintiffs will move for preliminary approval of any settlements they reach with Opt-In Settlors. after the Court has ruled on the approval of any agreements with any Opt-In Settlors, Class Counsel will submit a Notice Motion that includes the proposed form of, method for, and dates of dissemination of notice as well as the procedure for submission of claims.

This website and the notice are only a summary. The Court has appointed Freed Kanner London & Millen LLC and McGuire Law P.C. to serve as Settlement Class Counsel. To learn more, contact Settlement Class Counsel via the information below: