A Texas lawsuit over “buyer-broker commissions” has expanded to include antitrust charges against more agent associations.
Lawyers filed an expanded suit copying the landmark Sitzer/Barnett case, suing the National Association of Realtors, Keller Williams and HomeServices of America for $1.8 billion in Missouri on October 31st. handed down a judgment.
Texas lawyers first filed the lawsuit in November, naming real estate agent associations including the Texas Association of Realtors, the Austin Association of Realtors, the San Antonio Association of Realtors, the Metrotex Association of Realtors, and the Houston Association of Realtors. Ta. QJ Team and Five Points Holdings were the plaintiffs in the original lawsuit.
The expanded lawsuit, filed Dec. 14 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Sherman, Texas, represents Texans who have listed their homes on the MLS with buyer commissions since November, including Julie Martin and Mark. Adams and Adelaida Matta were added as plaintiffs. . From March 2019 onwards.
The expanded lawsuit includes the Greater Fort Worth Association of Realtors, Greater El Paso Association of Realtors, Central Texas Multi-Listing Service, Temple Belton Association of Realtors, Four Rivers Association of Realtors, Houston Realtor Information Service, and others. The real estate agent association has been added. Defendants include Fort Hood County and Williamson County, Victoria.
The class action lawsuit accuses real estate organizations and brokers of engaging in a “hidden conspiracy” and violating antitrust laws. The lawsuit challenges industry practices in which sellers’ agents compensate buyers’ agents in exchange for listing properties on the MLS. There were no new charges in the expanded case.
Plaintiffs’ attorneys Julie Pettit and Michael Hurst said the goal is to make real estate commissions more negotiable in Texas. genuine last month. Pettit has accused brokerages and real estate organizations of forcing Texans into a “price-fixing scheme” that Pettit’s team wants to end.
Brokers and real estate organizations are staying mum about an ongoing lawsuit that could change Texas’ real estate landscape forever.
Industry insiders and individual real estate agents describe the copycat lawsuit in harsher terms, viewing it as an attempt to upend the industry. Similar lawsuits have been filed in New York, Illinois, and South Carolina.