A district court judge granted preliminary approval of the National Association of REALTORS®’ proposed settlement with plaintiffs in the Tuccori class-action lawsuit on Tuesday.
In Tuccori et al. v. At World Properties, et al., plaintiffs alleged that certain industry practices regarding buyer agent commissions impacted competition and compensation structures.
Preliminary approval is the first step in a multipart approval process. A final approval hearing remains to be scheduled.
“We are pleased with the Court’s preliminary approval of the Tuccori settlement,” an NAR spokesperson said. “This marks a significant step forward in NAR's process to resolve nationwide homebuyer claims. NAR continues to believe the settlement is fair, reasonable and in the best interests of the class, and we will continue to advocate for it through the final approval process."
NAR agreed to pay $52.25 million to the settlement fund over several years. Importantly, there are no additional practice changes for member agents and brokers stipulated by this settlement.
If approved by the court, the settlement includes a release of liability for REALTOR® members, state and local REALTOR® associations (including those that do, and do not, operate multiple listing services (MLSs)), REALTOR® MLSs, non-REALTOR® MLSs, and real estate brokerages with a REALTOR® as principal that have not previously settled or been named in similar litigation and meet specified eligibility criteria, including compliance with NAR rules and policies and not asserting claims contrary to the settlement.
While NAR was not originally named in the Tuccori case, it opted in to the settlement process to secure a comprehensive resolution to home buyer claims. The opt-in settlement mechanism allows parties facing similar claims in other litigation to resolve those claims efficiently through the settlement framework.
For example, the fate of a separate case involving similar accusations known as Batton is dependent on the outcome of the Tuccori settlement. Final approval of the settlement would effectively release NAR from claims in the Batton lawsuit.
