Home sellers: You may be entitled to a portion of the real estate settlement money

If you’ve sold a home in the last seven years, you may have paid excessive brokerage fees that were anti-competitive and unfair, a class action lawsuit says. Under the proposed class action settlements, you may be entitled to compensation from a total of $980.9 million reached through court settlements by several real estate brokerage firms.

Starting today, Saturday, August 17, 2024, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) is changing the way real estate agents list fees. In addition to proposed settlements between home sellers and real estate agents, real estate agents will not be allowed to announce commission fees when listing homes, with the goal of encouraging buyers and sellers to negotiate those fees instead. A 6% commission split between the seller’s agent and the buyer’s agent had become the standard agent fee.

Here’s how to find out if you’re eligible for compensation for fees related to the home sale. For more information, here’s what we know about Cash App settlement payouts.

Who is eligible to file a claim under the proposed property fee settlements?

If you sold a home in the United States listed on a Multiple Listing Service (MLS) between October 31, 2017, and July 23, 2024, and paid a broker’s commission, you may be in the settlement class and eligible to receive compensation from the $980.9 million pool of money.

Defendants include NAR and real estate brokerages Anywhere, Keller Williams and Re/Max, but you don’t have to have sold your home through a broker from one of those firms to make a claim. Check the settlement agency’s website for the exact data for the area of ​​your home.

Eligibility depends on where you live and when you sold your home. The total number of sellers who could participate in the settlement is estimated to be between 21 million and 50 million.

How much money could I receive under the $980.9 million settlement?

The $980.9 million award will be distributed among those eligible for the settlement.

According to the settlement website, the plaintiffs will propose a plan to the court for distributing the settlement amount to the claimants. The proposal will be posted on the settlement website. According to the website, the plan will take into account the amount of commissions sellers pay to a real estate broker or agent.

Because it is a large amount of money and there are so many potential applicants, the average payout could be $13.

How do I file a claim and what are the filing deadlines?

You can either make your claim online or print a claim form and send it to this address:

Burnett et al. v. The National Association of Realtors et al.
c/o JND Legal Administration
PO Box 91479
Seattle, WA 98111

If you have sold multiple homes, you must submit a separate application form for each of your properties.

You must submit your application form by post or email by 9 May 2025.

When will I get my money?

The agreement’s website states that payments will be made after the application deadline of May 9, 2025, and appeals have been resolved. Those eligible for compensation are asked to be patient.

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