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.
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.