The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday took the final procedural step in seven appeals challenging the National Association of Realtors’ Sitzer | Burnett settlement, issuing its mandate after rejecting rehearing bids last week.
The Oct. 2 mandate formally resolves a series of ongoing appeals stemming from the court’s Aug. 19 judgment affirming approval of the settlement, including challenges brought by Spring Way Center LLC, Monty March, Robert Friedman, Benny Cheatham, Tanya Monestier, James Mullis and Rosalie Doyle.
While the mandate ends the appellate avenues through the 8th Circuit, objectors can still seek review from the U.S. Supreme Court.
The appellate court had unanimously upheld the settlement in August, rejecting seven challenges and preserving more than $1 billion in commission settlements along with the industry practice changes that followed the litigation.
Objectors Friedman and March subsequently sought both panel rehearing and rehearing before the full court, arguing in part that the panel used the wrong legal standard and improperly allowed the nationwide settlement to release separate claims involving the Real Estate Board of New York.
The 8th Circuit denied those requests on Sept. 24. Friday’s mandate followed “in accordance with the opinion and judgment of August 19, 2026,” according to the court.
The mandate is the latest step in a string of appellate rulings that have gone against objectors challenging the commission settlements. On Sept. 15, the same three-judge panel ruled on three consolidated appeals brought by Mullis, Spring Way Center and a group consisting of Cheatham, Robert Douglass and Douglas and Dena Fender.
In a brief unpublished opinion, the 8th Circuit said the merits of those appeals had been “fully resolved” by its Aug. 19 Burnett decision and affirmed U.S. District Judge Stephen Bough’s judgment “for the reasons stated” in that ruling.
Those decisions followed a separate Sept. 1 ruling in which the 8th Circuit affirmed four consolidated appeals challenging $110.6 million in settlements reached by Compass, Redfin, The Real Brokerage and other firms in the Gibson commission case.
According to the court, those deals brought the broader settlement pool to roughly $1.02 billion.
