Gibson plaintiffs clap back at eXp, Weichert 

Earlier this week, eXp offered a detailed account of its negotiations with the plaintiffs in two commissions cases, arguing that they were "entirely proper," and insisted that its settlement amount was reasonable.

But the Gibson plaintiffs aren't buying it. The day after eXp's filing, attorneys for home sellers in the Missouri case took their arguments to a judge in Georgia, sticking with their claim that the settlements reached by eXp and Weichert in the Hooper case were the result of a reverse auction and should not be approved.

What the plaintiffs are saying: In a Feb. 5 filing in the U.S. District Court case known as Hooper, the Gibson attorneys alleged that the two brokerages settled "a less actively litigated case with weaker plaintiffs and less experienced counsel" to avoid paying higher damages in a better-developed case.

"Plaintiffs filed this copycat case more than one year ago and then did nothing to advance it. No responsive pleadings have been filed, and no discovery has occurred. Instead, Plaintiffs did nothing other than repeatedly agree to stay this case, … express their eagerness to settle by offering significant 'savings' to eXp and Weichert, and then settle on the cheap," attorneys wrote in the filing.

Damage differences: The brokerage settlements — $34 million for eXp and $8.5 million for Weichert — are simply inadequate, according to the filing. The attorneys argued that eXp had plenty of cash on hand to cover the additional damages they were seeking, and noted that Weichert had offered the Gibson plaintiffs $13 million a few weeks before settling in Hooper.

In its own filing on Jan. 31, Weichert said the amounts aren't that different when considering how much the class would ultimately get. 

The $8.5 million Hooper settlement would be reduced by 20% after subtracting attorney fees, while the $13 million Gibson offer would have been reduced by 33.3% due to higher fees. After doing the math, $6.8 million would go into the settlement fund if the Hooper deal is approved, versus $8.7 if Weichert settled in Gibson.

eXp made similar arguments in its Feb. 4 filing, pushing back against reverse auction allegations and asserting that its $34 million deal is comparable to settlements reached by several other brokerages.

How we got here: Soon after eXp announced its settlement in early October, plaintiffs in the Gibson/Umpa case — in which eXp is also a defendant — filed an objection accusing the firm of securing "an improper sweetheart deal that is not fair or reasonable to the class." Judge Stephen Bough, who is overseeing Gibson/Umpa, refused to issue a stay in the case, instead allowing "further discovery into whether a reverse auction occurred."

Meanwhile, the parties in the Hooper case have asked Judge Mark Cohen to preliminarily approve all of the settlements in the case, which total $44.05 million.