O
n September 29, U.S. District Judge Patti Saris finalized the fourth amended settlement in the Massachusetts class action, obligating MLS PIN to pay $3.95 million to home sellers in the state and to cease displaying compensation offers. The agreement, first announced in June 2023, had originally set the payout at $3 million, a figure the judge later deemed insufficient. A key hurdle was the U.S. Department of Justice’s objection in September 2023 to MLS PIN’s plan to allow $0 compensation offers instead of removing the field entirely. After negotiations, the MLS incorporated a clause that eliminates all compensation information from its listings, satisfying the DOJ and securing preliminary approval in June.

    The settlement narrows the class to sellers of residential real estate and follows earlier agreements with brokerage defendants—RE MAX, Anywhere, HomeServices of America, and Keller Williams. The Nosalek case, filed in 2019, runs parallel to the Missouri‑Illinois actions known as Sitzer/Burnett and Moehrl. In October 2023, a jury ruled in favor of Sitzer/Burnett plaintiffs, prompting settlements exceeding $1 billion with the National Association of Realtors and major brokerages; those deals are now under appeal. Because Moehrl names the same defendants, that case remains open, pending the Eighth Circuit’s ruling on Sitzer/Burnett.

    After five years of litigation and two years since the initial settlement, MLS PIN’s latest approval marks the end of another chapter in the commission‑law suits.