Fresh off a billion-dollar victory, the lead attorney for the plaintiffs in the Sitzer/Burnett trial filed a nationwide lawsuit against the National Association of Realtors and seven brokerages alleging more companies had conspired to artificially inflate the commissions paid to real estate agents. This time, however, the suit is requesting class action status to include every home seller in the U.S. who used a listing broker affiliated with the defendants and listed on an MLS between Oct. 31, 2019 to present.
In addition to once again naming the National Association of Realtors, the brokerages named in the new suit include Compass, eXp, Redfin, Howard Hanna Real Estate, United Real Estate, Douglas Elliman and Weichert Realtors. RE/MAX and Anywhere Real Estate were initially named in the prior lawsuit but settled for $55 million and $83.5 million, respectively, in damages prior to trial.
The new lawsuit was filed yesterday by Michael Ketchmark in the same court that concluded the Sitzer/Burnett trial yesterday. The plaintiffs listed in this new class action complaint are Missouri home sellers Don Gibson, Lauren Criss and John Meiners.
The new suit did not list a specific damage amount, but stated that damages should provide “appropriate injunctive and equitable relief.”
“Our goal is to take the message from Missouri across the nation and return the process of selling homes to the fair market and allow people to reap the benefits of technology and to stop this conspiracy from affecting people in our country,” Ketchmark said.