15 commission lawsuit settlements gain final approval

In a move that’s unsurprising, U.S. District Court Judge Stephen Bough has granted final approval to 15 more commission lawsuit settlement agreements.

Bough granted final approval to settlements negotiated in the Gibson and Keel suits during a joint hearing on Tuesday afternoon. 

The settling defendants in the two suits, both of which are being overseen by Bough, filed a joint motion for final approval last week. 

Of the 15 settling defendants, six were named in the Gibson suit and nine in the Keel suit.

The Gibson settling defendants include Keyes Co./Illustrated Properties ($2.4 million), NextHome ($600,000), John L. Scott ($1 million), LoKation ($925,000), Real Estate One ($1.5 million), and Baird & Warner ($2.2 million).

The Keel settling defendants include Side ($5.5 million), Seven Gables Real Estate ($1 million), Washington Fine Properties ($1.3 million), JPAR ($700,000), Signature Properties of Huntington ($850,000), Central New York Information Services ($125,000), Brooklyn New York MLS ($95,000), First Team Real Estate — Orange County ($1 million), and Sibcy Cline ($895,000). 

These settlement amounts bring the overall settlement total for the commission lawsuits to roughly $1.04 billion. More than 2.5 million claims had been filed in relation to the settlements as of May 9, 2025. 

This is the second round of Gibson settlements that Bough has granted final approval for. He approved nine others during a hearing in late October 2024.

Bough also oversaw the Sitzer/Burnett suit and granted final approval to the settlements negotiated by RE/MAX, Keller Williams, Anywhere, HomeServices of America and the National Association of Realtors. 

Path less traveled

While many commission lawsuit defendants have chosen to settle, Howard Hanna Real Estate Services has taken a different approach. The family-owned real estate firm has continued to pursue litigation in these lawsuits and has had some success.

Most recently, Howard Hanna saw some of the claims against it in the Davis commission lawsuit dismissed. On Monday, Judge Wendy Beetlestone of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania dismissed claims made by homebuyer plaintiffs that the firm colluded with other brokerages to fix agent commissions. 

Beetlestone used the rule of reason analysis to determine this judgment. This differs from the per se approach used by the court in the Sitzer/Burnett suit. The per se analysis approach prevented NAR and the corporate brokerage defendants from introducing evidence or arguments that the Participation Rule had a positive impact on competition in the industry.

According to Beetlestone, “at best” the allegations made by the plaintiffs showed that Howard Hanna knew other brokerage firms were also contemplating the now-defunct Participation Rule and were open to collaborating. 

“(B)inding precedent holds that joining a trade organization, helping develop its rules, and enforcing those rules (even in collaboration with other members of the organization) do not plausibly establish the existence of a prior and separate horizontal agreement among competitors,” she wrote in her ruling.

Despite Beetlestone’s ruling, some claims against Howard Hanna in this suit are being allowed to continue.

This is the second victory that Howard Hanna has achieved in the Davis suit, as the firm successfully negotiated for the case to be moved from Illinois to Pennsylvania. 

Additionally, Howard Hanna was dismissed from the Moratis home seller commission lawsuit in October 2024.