MLS PIN settlement gains preliminary approval … again

The settlement agreement between MLS Property Information Network (MLS PIN) and the Nosalek commission lawsuit plaintiffs has been granted preliminary approval for a second time.

Judge Patti B. Saris of U.S. District Court in Boston granted preliminary approval to the fourth amended settlement agreement between the MLS defendant and the home seller plaintiffs at a video conference hearing on Tuesday. 

This is not the first time Saris has granted preliminary approval to a settlement between the two parties. She granted preliminary approval to their original agreement in September 2023 only to have the Department of Justice (DOJ) file an amicus brief just weeks later stating that it had “significant concerns” about the settlement.

Unlike other commission lawsuit settlement agreements — like the one negotiated by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) in the Sitzer/Burnett suit — MLS PIN’s original settlement did not ban offers of buyer broker compensation from the platform.

In later filings in the Nosalek suit, the DOJ argued that it did not want upfront offers of buyer broker compensation displayed or shared anywhere. 

MLS PIN and the Nosalek plaintiffs have spent the past 20 months going back and forth over the settlement. This all changed last last month when the DOJ notified the court that it had  officially withdrawn its objections to the settlement. 

The DOJ changed its tune after MLS PIN agreed to remove upfront offers of buyer broker compensation from the site, bringing its settlement in line with NAR’s settlement. Additionally, MLS PIN has agreed to pay $3.95 million, the same amount it would have paid had it bought into NAR’s settlement. 

During Tuesday’s hearing, Saris expressed her skepticism that the settlement would ever reach this stage. 

“I wasn’t sure I was going to approve it at the end. I’ve received, as I think I put on the docket, several objections, so we may get objections even at the end,” she said. “I’m not sure if this fixed it or not, but I did put them on the docket, the concerns.”

A final approval hearing for the settlement has been set for Sept. 29.