Zillow pushes for a stay in RESPA case; Anywhere notches a win 

A flurry of court activity involving real estate companies has occurred over the past week, with appeals, approvals and updates filed in a handful of cases involving commissions and allegations of RESPA violations. 

Here's the latest:

Zillow doubles down on request to pause steering case: The Taylor lawsuit, originally filed in September (then consolidated with a related case in December), alleges that Zillow's "Flex" agent referral program has led to inflated commissions and compels agents to illegally steer homebuyers to Zillow Home Loans. Plaintiffs claim the company's practices violate the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) and RICO laws.

On Feb. 20, Zillow filed a motion to dismiss the case, claiming it was "thin on substance," and requested a stay. This week, the search giant and the plaintiffs in the suit filed a joint status update in which Zillow reiterated its request to pause the case pending a ruling on the dismissal motion. 

In the March 11 filing, Zillow and the other defendants — which include The Real Brokerage and three real estate teams — argued that "a stay is the most appropriate and efficient course" because they believe "this action is likely to be dismissed in its entirety or, at a minimum, greatly narrowed." The plaintiffs have previously referred to that argument as "conjecture" and "based on their mere belief that their motions to dismiss will dispose of all of Plaintiffs' claims."

Zillow also asked the judge to set a deadline of April 15 for additional parties to join the lawsuit. The plaintiffs have requested a deadline of June 9.

More settlements appealed in Gibson: Five settlements approved last month by the judge overseeing the Gibson commissions case will head to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.

Spring Way Center LLC and a group of objectors filed an appeal on March 5 challenging the deals reached with Hanna Holdings, William Raveis, EXIT Realty, Windermere and Lyon that added a combined $39.7 million to the settlement fund.

Spring Way previously appealed settlements in the Sitzer/Burnett case, arguing that damage amounts are "grossly disproportionate" to what would be needed to adequately compensate injured parties across the country. 

Several other parties in Sitzer/Burnett and Gibson are awaiting a decision by the appeals court on whether their settlements — which make up the bulk of the antitrust fund — will remain in place. The three-judge panel heard oral arguments in January and could issue a ruling this spring.

Anywhere deal granted preliminary approval in Tuccori: Despite attempts by plaintiffs in the Batton case to intervene, the judge in the Tuccori commissions case has approved settlements reached with Anywhere Real Estate and three other brokerages that opted in.

While Anywhere was not a named defendant in Tuccori, it was among the defendants in Batton, a similar commissions case brought by homebuyers. An October 2025 settlement agreement in Tuccori allowed firms litigating the same claims in other lawsuits to participate in the deal. 

Batton plaintiffs accused Anywhere of trying to settle "on the cheap" by opting in to Tuccori — a claim Anywhere denied. The other brokerages that opted in were Real, The Keyes Company and Illustrated Properties, and Vanguard Properties. They agreed to pay a combined $10.8 million into the settlement fund.

The judge granted preliminary approval of the settlements on March 4.