Judge approves MLS PIN deal plagued by delays, DOJ scrutiny
The fourth amended settlement in the Massachusetts case received final approval Sept. 29, and the MLS will pay $3.95 million to home sellers in the state.
Five years after litigation began, and two years after reaching an initial settlement, MLS PIN has received final approval of its settlement agreement, closing another chapter in the commissions lawsuits.
U.S. District Court Judge Patti Saris signed off on the settlement after a Sept. 29 hearing in Massachusetts. Known as the Nosalek case, the settlement means the multiple listing service will pay $3.95 million to Massachusetts home sellers and make policy changes including no longer displaying offers of compensation.
A deal long delayed: A settlement in the case was first reached in June 2023, but Saris questioned the monetary amount, originally set at $3 million.
What became a much bigger issue, however, was the involvement of the U.S. Department of Justice. In Sept. 2023, the DOJ expressed "significant concerns with the planned rule changes under the proposed settlement" — referring to MLS PIN's decision to allow $0 offers of compensation instead of removing the compensation field entirely.
After much sparring between DOJ and MLS PIN attorneys, the federal agency appeared satisfied when the MLS's fourth amended agreement included a provision to stop displaying any compensation information.
That agreement, which received preliminary approval in June, also limited the number of eligible class members to only sellers of residential real estate.
The home sellers plaintiffs previously reached settlement agreements with the brokerage defendants: RE/MAX, Anywhere, HomeServices of America and Keller Williams.
A 5-year journey: The Nosalek case was originally filed in 2019, the same year that sellers in Missouri and Illinois filed the class-action lawsuits known as Sitzer/Burnett and Moehrl. A jury found for the plaintiffs in Sitzer/Burnett in October 2023, a landmark decision leading to settlements with the National Association of Realtors and several major brokerage firms.
Those settlements, worth more than $1 billion, are currently going through the appeals process.
Since Moehrl named the same defendants as those in Sitzer/Burnett, the Moehrl case has remained open, but no further action has been taken as it awaits the decision of the Eighth Circuit U.S. Appeals Court on Sitzer/Burnett.