{"id":439724,"date":"2024-01-16T15:27:09","date_gmt":"2024-01-16T20:27:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/?p=439724"},"modified":"2024-01-17T09:10:36","modified_gmt":"2024-01-17T14:10:36","slug":"opinion-defendants-have-solid-case-for-appeal-in-sitzer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/articles\/opinion-defendants-have-solid-case-for-appeal-in-sitzer\/","title":{"rendered":"Opinion: Defendants have solid case for appeal in Sitzer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A few days ago, the three main defendants\u2014National Association of Realtors<\/strong>, Keller Williams<\/strong> and HomeServices<\/strong>\u2014in the Sitzer\/Burnett case<\/a> filed two motions with the court. The first was a motion for judgement as a matter of law and the second was a motion for a new trial<\/a>. These actions by the three firms are all a matter of public record. I have read them and talked with one of the defendants to get some clarification and an explanation of the basis of the filings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am not an attorney, but I have served as an industry expert witness in three other Sherman Act federal-level cases, at least one state level restraint of trade case and over 60 other cases. So, while I make no claim as to the specific deep legal issues, I have some familiarity of antitrust actions and more in the conduct of legal actions in a courtroom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, with my modest experience in such matters let me comment on what I read in these motions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No evidence of collusion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

First, according to the filings, the plaintiffs in the case presented no evidence at trial as to any collusion or conspiracy among the defendants. There were no meeting notes, no emails, no joint or concerted actions by or between the defendants in the implementation of the Cooperative Compensation Rule<\/a>. The defendants say there was no evidence presented at the trial that excludes the possibility of independent action by any of the defendants. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

No evidence that plaintiffs suffered harm<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

According to the filings, there was no evidence that any of the plaintiffs suffered harm from the actions of the defendants. They entered into listing agreements with seller agents and agreed to the terms of those agreements without being under any duress to do so. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

RealTrends<\/strong> research establishes that the use of real estate agents<\/a>, using access to the Cooperative Compensation Rule, has become more attractive over time, not less, as evidenced by the increased use of agents in selling and buying property. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second, previous courts had found that the rule of reason should apply to MLS-focused cases, and not under the per-se standard. The per-se standard establishes that the defendants did operate a system that itself was collusive or whose outcome was to restrain trade. This court ignored all those precedents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Issues with the damage award<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The damage award<\/a> was calculated by imputing that the entire \u201c3%\u201d was awarded to buyer agents by listing agents for the MLS regions in Missouri for the seven years of the class period. That is how they got to $1.8 billion. Even though evidence at trial showed that the actual cooperative commission paid was lower than this amount, the jury awarded all of it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the filings, the jury and the court assigned no value to the services provided by buyer agents to any of the sellers in any of the tens of thousands of transactions contemplated in the award for damages. The argument was made that the court did not require the plaintiffs\u2019 experts to run any actual calculations of damages, just chose a number based on a fictional commission rate that has not existed in the market for years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Missouri law permits sellers and their agents to compensate buyer agents<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

One last item\u2014Missouri state law<\/a> it is permitted for sellers and their agents to compensate buyer agents. This evidence was not allowed to be presented to the jury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I want to express what readers should know. At least at the Federal level, the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission have had the Realtor organization and the industry in their sights for an exceedingly long time, and, in my opinion, not in a favorable way.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For those who want to fault defense counsel for not running an adequate case, you might want to reconsider that line of thinking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Steve Murray is founder of RTC Consulting<\/strong>, a company that specializes in real estate brokerage and team valuations, mergers and acquisitions.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of HousingWire\u2019s editorial department and its owners.<\/em>

To contact the author of this story:
Steve Murray at smurray@realtrends.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Tracey Velt at tracey@hwmedia.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A breakdown of how the two new motions to appeal from HomeServices, Keller Williams and NAR deserve to be heard.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15802,"featured_media":384013,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42023,14200,1681],"tags":[268195,1731,3350,268196],"coauthors":[267968],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nOpinion: Defendants have solid case for appeal in Sitzer - HousingWire<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/articles\/opinion-defendants-have-solid-case-for-appeal-in-sitzer\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Opinion: Defendants have solid case for appeal in Sitzer - HousingWire\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A breakdown of how the two new motions to appeal from HomeServices, Keller Williams and NAR deserve to be heard.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/articles\/opinion-defendants-have-solid-case-for-appeal-in-sitzer\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"HousingWire\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/housing-lawsuit.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"675\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Steve Murray\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@traceyveltFL\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Steve Murray\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/articles\/opinion-defendants-have-solid-case-for-appeal-in-sitzer\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/articles\/opinion-defendants-have-solid-case-for-appeal-in-sitzer\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Tracey Velt\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/#\/schema\/person\/db05dddc94c61082eaa18f2f5e66c788\"},\"headline\":\"Opinion: Defendants have solid case for appeal in Sitzer\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-01-16T20:27:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-01-17T14:10:36+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/articles\/opinion-defendants-have-solid-case-for-appeal-in-sitzer\/\"},\"wordCount\":715,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Commission Lawsuit\",\"Department of Justice\",\"Federal Trade Commission\",\"Sitzer\/Burnett\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Agents\/Brokers\",\"Opinion\",\"Real Estate\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/articles\/opinion-defendants-have-solid-case-for-appeal-in-sitzer\/#respond\"]}],\"copyrightYear\":\"2024\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/#organization\"},\"isAccessibleForFree\":\"False\",\"hasPart\":{\"@type\":\"WebPageElement\",\"isAccessibleForFree\":\"False\",\"cssSelector\":\".wp-block-housingwire-piano-member\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/articles\/opinion-defendants-have-solid-case-for-appeal-in-sitzer\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/articles\/opinion-defendants-have-solid-case-for-appeal-in-sitzer\/\",\"name\":\"Opinion: Defendants have solid case for appeal in Sitzer - HousingWire\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2024-01-16T20:27:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-01-17T14:10:36+00:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/articles\/opinion-defendants-have-solid-case-for-appeal-in-sitzer\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/\",\"name\":\"HousingWire\",\"description\":\"HousingWire is the nation's most influential source of news and information on housing and mortgage lending.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"HousingWire\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/cropped-HousingWire-Logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/cropped-HousingWire-Logo.png\",\"width\":1216,\"height\":246,\"caption\":\"HousingWire\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/#\/schema\/person\/db05dddc94c61082eaa18f2f5e66c788\",\"name\":\"Tracey Velt\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/d0a3fcf8e5bf4df51cfeb4564e0046d3\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0ae93a87da9d990fc51cf617b168f0b2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0ae93a87da9d990fc51cf617b168f0b2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Tracey Velt\"},\"description\":\"Tracey Velt is the Senior Director of Data & Content. She is the host of the popular RealTrending podcast, manages content for the Gathering of Eagles and HousingWire Annual conferences and heads up the contributor program across the HW Media brands. Tracey has more than 25 years of experience writing and editing for the real estate industry and is the former editor in chief of Florida Realtor magazine. She resides in Florida.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/traceyvelt\/\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/traceyveltFL\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/author\/tvelt\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Opinion: Defendants have solid case for appeal in Sitzer - HousingWire","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/articles\/opinion-defendants-have-solid-case-for-appeal-in-sitzer\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Opinion: Defendants have solid case for appeal in Sitzer - HousingWire","og_description":"A breakdown of how the two new motions to appeal from HomeServices, Keller Williams and NAR deserve to be heard.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/articles\/opinion-defendants-have-solid-case-for-appeal-in-sitzer\/","og_site_name":"HousingWire","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":675,"url":"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/housing-lawsuit.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Steve Murray","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@traceyveltFL","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Steve Murray","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/articles\/opinion-defendants-have-solid-case-for-appeal-in-sitzer\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/articles\/opinion-defendants-have-solid-case-for-appeal-in-sitzer\/"},"author":{"name":"Tracey Velt","@id":"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/#\/schema\/person\/db05dddc94c61082eaa18f2f5e66c788"},"headline":"Opinion: Defendants have solid case for appeal in Sitzer","datePublished":"2024-01-16T20:27:09+00:00","dateModified":"2024-01-17T14:10:36+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/articles\/opinion-defendants-have-solid-case-for-appeal-in-sitzer\/"},"wordCount":715,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/#organization"},"keywords":["Commission Lawsuit","Department of Justice","Federal Trade Commission","Sitzer\/Burnett"],"articleSection":["Agents\/Brokers","Opinion","Real Estate"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/articles\/opinion-defendants-have-solid-case-for-appeal-in-sitzer\/#respond"]}],"copyrightYear":"2024","copyrightHolder":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/#organization"},"isAccessibleForFree":"False","hasPart":{"@type":"WebPageElement","isAccessibleForFree":"False","cssSelector":".wp-block-housingwire-piano-member"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/articles\/opinion-defendants-have-solid-case-for-appeal-in-sitzer\/","url":"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/articles\/opinion-defendants-have-solid-case-for-appeal-in-sitzer\/","name":"Opinion: Defendants have solid case for appeal in Sitzer - HousingWire","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2024-01-16T20:27:09+00:00","dateModified":"2024-01-17T14:10:36+00:00","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/articles\/opinion-defendants-have-solid-case-for-appeal-in-sitzer\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/","name":"HousingWire","description":"HousingWire is the nation's most influential source of news and information on housing and mortgage lending.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/#organization","name":"HousingWire","url":"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/cropped-HousingWire-Logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/cropped-HousingWire-Logo.png","width":1216,"height":246,"caption":"HousingWire"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/#\/schema\/person\/db05dddc94c61082eaa18f2f5e66c788","name":"Tracey Velt","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/d0a3fcf8e5bf4df51cfeb4564e0046d3","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0ae93a87da9d990fc51cf617b168f0b2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0ae93a87da9d990fc51cf617b168f0b2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Tracey Velt"},"description":"Tracey Velt is the Senior Director of Data & Content. She is the host of the popular RealTrending podcast, manages content for the Gathering of Eagles and HousingWire Annual conferences and heads up the contributor program across the HW Media brands. Tracey has more than 25 years of experience writing and editing for the real estate industry and is the former editor in chief of Florida Realtor magazine. She resides in Florida.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/traceyvelt\/","https:\/\/twitter.com\/traceyveltFL"],"url":"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/author\/tvelt\/"}]}},"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Opinion: Defendants have solid case for appeal in Sitzer","url":"http:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/articles\/opinion-defendants-have-solid-case-for-appeal-in-sitzer\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/articles\/opinion-defendants-have-solid-case-for-appeal-in-sitzer\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/housing-lawsuit.jpg?w=150","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/housing-lawsuit.jpg"},"articleSection":"Agents\/Brokers","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Steve Murray"}],"creator":["Steve Murray"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"HousingWire","logo":"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/HW-logo1.png"},"keywords":["commission lawsuit","department of justice","federal trade commission","sitzer\/burnett"],"dateCreated":"2024-01-16T20:27:09Z","datePublished":"2024-01-16T20:27:09Z","dateModified":"2024-01-17T14:10:36Z"},"rendered":"<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"headline\":\"Opinion: Defendants have solid case for appeal in Sitzer\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.housingwire.com\\\/articles\\\/opinion-defendants-have-solid-case-for-appeal-in-sitzer\\\/\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.housingwire.com\\\/articles\\\/opinion-defendants-have-solid-case-for-appeal-in-sitzer\\\/\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.housingwire.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/04\\\/housing-lawsuit.jpg?w=150\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.housingwire.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/04\\\/housing-lawsuit.jpg\"},\"articleSection\":\"Agents\\\/Brokers\",\"author\":[{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"name\":\"Steve Murray\"}],\"creator\":[\"Steve Murray\"],\"publisher\":{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"name\":\"HousingWire\",\"logo\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.housingwire.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/09\\\/HW-logo1.png\"},\"keywords\":[\"commission lawsuit\",\"department of justice\",\"federal trade commission\",\"sitzer\\\/burnett\"],\"dateCreated\":\"2024-01-16T20:27:09Z\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-01-16T20:27:09Z\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-01-17T14:10:36Z\"}<\/script>","tracker_url":"https:\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/housingwire.com\/p.js"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/housing-lawsuit.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":438685,"url":"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/articles\/nar-asks-for-new-trial-in-latest-sitzer-burnett-commission-suit-filings\/","url_meta":{"origin":439724,"position":0},"title":"NAR asks for new trial in latest Sitzer\/Burnett commission suit filings","author":"Brooklee Han","date":"January 10, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"NAR joined Keller Williams and HomeServices in filing motions for judgement as a matter of law and a new trial in the Sitzer\/Burnett suit.","rel":"","context":"In "Legal"","block_context":{"text":"Legal","link":"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/category\/politics-money\/legal\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"HousingWire-Commission-Trial","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.housingwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/HousingWire-Commission-Trial.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.housingwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/HousingWire-Commission-Trial.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.housingwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/HousingWire-Commission-Trial.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.housingwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/HousingWire-Commission-Trial.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":437984,"url":"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/articles\/nine-commission-lawsuits-look-to-consolidate-in-missouri-under-sitzer-burnett-judge\/","url_meta":{"origin":439724,"position":1},"title":"Nine commission lawsuits look to consolidate in Missouri under Sitzer\/Burnett judge","author":"Brooklee Han","date":"January 8, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Nine commission lawsuits from across the country are looking to consolidate in Missouri under Judge Stephen Bough who oversaw the Sitzer trial.","rel":"","context":"In "Legal"","block_context":{"text":"Legal","link":"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/category\/politics-money\/legal\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"commission-lawsuits","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.housingwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/commission-lawsuits.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.housingwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/commission-lawsuits.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.housingwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/commission-lawsuits.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.housingwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/commission-lawsuits.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":438271,"url":"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/articles\/sitzer-burnett-filing-deadline-results-in-a-squall-of-post-trial-motions\/","url_meta":{"origin":439724,"position":2},"title":"Sitzer\/Burnett filing deadline results in a squall of post-trial motions","author":"Brooklee Han","date":"January 8, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Keller Williams and HomeServices of America beat the buzzer with multiple post-trial motions in the Sitzer commission suit filed Monday.","rel":"","context":"In "Real Estate"","block_context":{"text":"Real Estate","link":"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/category\/real-estate\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"AdobeStock_52887287","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.housingwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/AdobeStock_52887287.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.housingwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/AdobeStock_52887287.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.housingwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/AdobeStock_52887287.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.housingwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/AdobeStock_52887287.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":440600,"url":"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/articles\/california-hit-with-yet-another-commission-lawsuit\/","url_meta":{"origin":439724,"position":3},"title":"California hit with yet another commission lawsuit","author":"Brooklee Han","date":"January 19, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Northern California Realtor associations and brokerages are the latest targets of yet another copycat commission lawsuit.","rel":"","context":"In "Legal"","block_context":{"text":"Legal","link":"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/category\/politics-money\/legal\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Tall California palm tree against a turquoise and orange sky at sunset","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.housingwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/AdobeStock_61092779-2.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.housingwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/AdobeStock_61092779-2.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.housingwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/AdobeStock_61092779-2.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.housingwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/AdobeStock_61092779-2.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":437667,"url":"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/articles\/housingwire-to-host-commission-lawsuit-debate-between-ketchmark-and-lamacchia\/","url_meta":{"origin":439724,"position":4},"title":"HousingWire to host commission lawsuit debate between Ketchmark and Lamacchia","author":"Sarah Wheeler","date":"January 5, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"HousingWire will host a virtual debate between plaintiffs' attorney Michael Ketchmark and Realtor Anthony Lamacchia on Jan. 26.","rel":"","context":"In "Real Estate"","block_context":{"text":"Real Estate","link":"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/category\/real-estate\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.housingwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/AdobeStock_308429830.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.housingwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/AdobeStock_308429830.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.housingwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/AdobeStock_308429830.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.housingwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/AdobeStock_308429830.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":437622,"url":"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/articles\/final-approval-hearing-date-set-for-re-max-anywhere-commission-lawsuit-settlements\/","url_meta":{"origin":439724,"position":5},"title":"Final approval hearing date set for RE\/MAX, Anywhere commission lawsuit settlements","author":"Brooklee Han","date":"January 5, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"The conference for the final approval of the RE\/MAX and Anywhere commission lawsuit settlement agreements set for early May 2024.","rel":"","context":"In "Legal"","block_context":{"text":"Legal","link":"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/category\/politics-money\/legal\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"AdobeStock_117537974","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.housingwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/AdobeStock_117537974.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.housingwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/AdobeStock_117537974.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.housingwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/AdobeStock_117537974.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.housingwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/AdobeStock_117537974.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439724"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15802"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=439724"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439724\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":440069,"href":"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439724\/revisions\/440069"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/384013"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=439724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=439724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=439724"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=439724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}