Sitzer Jury Decision – $1.78 Billion (over $5 Billion Treble Damages) in 2.5 hour Deliberation

Major Antitrust Litigation Facing the Residential Real Estate Industry

1. Sitzer v. NAR, et al April 29, 2019
2. Moehlr v. NAR, et al March 6, 2019
3. Nosalek v. MLS PIN, et al December 10, 2021
4. Department of Justice V NAR November 19, 2020

Note: Case 1, 2, and 3 have been certified for Class Action Status

Basic Premise in Cases:

Violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act – Buyer Broker Compensation Rule in the MLS Handbook is an antitrust violation the Defendants participated in a conspiracy to over charge, costing consumers billions of dollars in unwarranted commissions, going back to 2015.

History of Cases:

Plaintiffs allege that Defendants’ conspiracy has centered around NAR’s adoption and implementation of a mandatory rule that requires all brokers to make a blanket, non-negotiable offer of buyer broker compensation (the “Buyer Broker Commission Rule”) when listing a property on a MLS. This conspiracy has resulted in billions of dollars in costs to sellers in the sale of their properties.

See Summary of current cases here:

Litigation Update – 11 Nov 2023