DOJ withdraws objection to MLS PIN settlement, clearing the way for preliminary approval

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has withdrawn its objection to MLS Property Information Network (MLS PIN)’s preliminary settlement of the Nosalek commission lawsuit after the two sides negotiated amended terms.

In a court filing on Thursday, MLS PIN and the plaintiffs disclosed that the former will prohibit offers of cooperative compensation on its platform, which other MLSs agreed to ban after the National Association of Realtors (NAR) settled the Sitzer/Burnett case in Missouri.

MLS PIN is settling the case for $3.95 million, the same amount it would have paid had it bought into the Sitzer/Burnett settlement. The original settlement — announced in the summer of 2023 — would have had MLS PIN pay $3 million.

A preliminary settlement approval hearing will take place on June 10 in a Massachusetts federal court.

The DOJ expressed concerns about the settlement at an April 1 hearing, where U.S. District Court Judge Patti B. Saris also indicated she would not grant approval to a settlement that included sellers of commercial properties or manufactured homes.

Saris said that these types of properties were too different from residential real estate and didn’t apply to the plaintiffs in the lawsuits, which were only about residential transactions. MLS PIN also capitulated to this demand, and the settlement will only apply to sellers of residential real estate.

The two sides were the first to announce a settlement in the case in July 2023. But the other defendants in the case — HomeServices of America, Keller Williams, Anywhere, RE/MAX, Compass, Redfin and At World Properties — have already been granted final approval of their settlements.

NAR’s settlement of the case for $418 million was granted final approval in November.

The Sitzer/Burnett case was the most impactful of a wave of class-action lawsuits that accused the industry of artificially inflating real estate commissions by mandating agents to make blanket offers of compensation on NAR-affiliated MLSs.

MLS PIN is an independent MLS that’s not subject to NAR rules, but it still required agents to make offers of compensation. The company — which serves Massachusetts, Rhode Island and parts of New Hampshire — declined to buy into NAR’s settlement, opting to litigate the case itself.