Here's what's changed, and what hasn't, one year after the National Association of Realtors rolled out new rules as part of a sprawling antitrust commission settlement
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The denial by Judge Bough is the latest in a string of court losses for the 2 remaining real estate companies that have yet to reach settlement agreements in homeseller commission cases
In court filings, eXp, Weichert and plaintiffs share new details about how settlement negotiations in the Gibson case fell apart before the brokerage moved to settle in a case called Hooper
There are now more than 2 dozen named plaintiffs in an antitrust case against the parent company of Howard Hanna, several of them also plaintiffs in other buyer commission suits
Parent company of Howard Hanna Real Estate Services argues plaintiff agreed to a mediation clause and, as a buyer, doesn't have standing to sue under federal and state antitrust laws
Howard Hanna is the latest brokerage to be hit with a buyer commission suit seeking class-action status
Defendants in the buy-side case, which also includes Weichert Realtors and United Real Estate, say the claims lack standing, are untimely and an attempt to 'parrot' arguments made in Batton 1
The case still names Compass, eXp, Redfin, Weichert Realtors and United Real Estate Group as defendants after Howard Hanna was previously released
The National Association of Realtors, Keller Williams, Anywhere, RE/MAX, Compass, eXp and others offered a slew of arguments for why the Batton 1 and Batton 2 cases should be thrown out
The news comes 1 week after NAR's whopping $418M settlement was announced. Compass also agreed to make some minor changes to its business practices as part of the settlement
More than 90 brokerages would not be covered under the $418M deal, though most have the option of buying in
Howard Hanna had been one of several defendants in a case known as Batton 2, which was brought by homebuyers and has a much larger scope than some better-known cases
Amended complaint alleges Warren Buffett's company abused the trust inspired by his name to encourage homesellers to use HomeServices and further alleged price-fixing conspiracy
A federal court judge denied a request from the defendants to suspend the case pending the outcome of post-trial motions after the Sitzer | Burnett verdict