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4 more brokerages file preliminary settlements 

The combined deals, which total nearly $5 million, are the next step in resolving litigation for the four firms with regional and national footprints.

November 5, 2024
2 minutes

Preliminary settlement agreements were filed for four more brokerages in the Gibson/Umpa commissions case, pushing the total settlement fund to more than $1 billion.

Last week, the judge overseeing the case gave final approval to nine other settlements worth around $110 million despite a number of objections to the deals

The new additions: The combined settlement amount for the four brokerages is just under $5 million, according to court documents filed Nov. 4:

  • The Keyes Company, based in Florida — $2.4 million

  • John L. Scott, based in Washington and serving the Pacific Northwest — $1 million

  • The K Company Realty LLC (doing business as LoKation), based in Florida with offices in five additional states — $925,000

  • NextHome, based in California with offices nationwide — $600,000

The amounts do not appear to be directly tied to the firms' sales volume, which ranged from roughly $5 billion (LoKation) to $11 billion (John L. Scott) in 2022, the most recent year for which data is available, according to the Real Estate Almanac.

Firms with sales volume exceeding $2 billion were not covered by NAR's deal and could choose to opt in to the settlement or negotiate their own deals. 

More settlements coming: In the filing submitted to the U.S. District Court in Missouri, the plaintiffs said they expect to announce additional settlements soon. They asked the court to hold off on setting a Class Notice deadline so those upcoming settlements could be combined with the four filed yesterday.

Once the settlements receive preliminary approval from U.S. District Court Judge Stephen Bough, a final hearing will be scheduled.

Settlement tally: Final approval has been given to 12 brokerage settlements totaling more than $318 million. 

The biggest settlements — those from the National Association of Realtors and HomeServices of America — have a final hearing scheduled for Nov. 26. Those two proposed settlements total $668 million, rising to nearly $700 million when the opt-ins from multiple listing services and other brokerages are included.

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