T
he courts remained active last week despite the Thanksgiving holiday, with several significant filings related to the NAR settlement, eXp deal, and a homebuyer case. This trend continued into this week, with more submissions on Monday and Tuesday.
Key developments include an appeal of the NAR settlement, an amended complaint in one of the Batton cases, and a response from eXp regarding allegations of "questionable behavior" in the Gibson case. On December 2, four appeals were filed challenging the NAR deal and approved Gibson settlements, with additional appeals submitted on December 3.
The NAR settlement was appealed by Spring Way LLC and objectors just one day after it was approved by U.S. District Court Judge Stephen Bough. This appeal will be heard in the U.S. Court of Appeals Eighth Circuit, which is also overseeing an appeal to the RE/MAX, Keller Williams, and Anywhere settlements.
On December 2, Monty March appealed both the NAR settlement and the Gibson case settlements that include Compass and Redfin. James Mullis, a plaintiff in the Batton homebuyer lawsuit, also filed appeals against the NAR settlement and the deals approved by nine brokerages in Gibson on October 31. Robert Friedman appealed the November 26 approval of both the NAR and HomeServices settlements as well as the approved Gibson settlements.
eXp has asked Judge Stephen Bough to reconsider his ruling not to pause litigation against eXp in the Gibson case, calling the decision "premature." The brokerage giant argued that if further investigation is needed, it should be made by the judge overseeing the Hooper case.
In an amended complaint filed November 26, the list of plaintiffs in the Chicago-based class action lawsuit known as Batton 2 has grown to over 30 individual homebuyers. Defendants include Redfin, eXp, Compass, Weichert Real Estate, and United Real Estate. The amended complaint mirrors previous arguments that home buyers across America have been paying too much for services offered by real estate agents.
