Realty One, The Agency settle in homebuyer commissions case
The two firms are the latest to opt into Tuccori, a settlement NAR also joined last week. Separately, Veterans United is pushing for dismissal in a RESPA case.
Two more brokerages have chosen to join a commissions settlement stemming from a lawsuit brought by homebuyers.
In an April 14 filing, attorneys for Realty One Group and The Agency announced their decisions to opt into the Tuccori settlement, which is being overseen by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
The filing did not disclose the amount either company would pay into the settlement fund.
The original lawsuit: Neither Realty One nor The Agency was a named defendant in Tuccori. Both brokerages were sued by another homebuyer in a related case known as Cwynar, filed in June 2025 in the same court, but joined Tuccori via an opt-in clause included as part of an settlement reached last October.
The attorneys for the two firms requested that the court pause proceedings in Cwynar in light of the pending settlements.
Other brokerages named in Cwynar include Real, which also joined the Tuccori settlement earlier this year, and Vanguard, which joined in late February. With these latest settlements from Realty One and The Agency, all Cwynar defendants have now reached preliminary agreements.
A flurry of deals: These two settlements continue what has been a busy period for the Tuccori case. Last week, the National Association of Realtors and Douglas Elliman opted in, with NAR paying $52.25 million into the fund — the largest amount paid so far in a commissions case brought by a homebuyer.
The NAR settlement casts a wide net, covering state and local Realtor associations as well as both Realtor-owned and non-Realtor-owned Multiple Listing Services.
Other major brokerages, including Anywhere and Hanna Holdings have announced they are opting in, but those settlements are being challenged in court by plaintiffs in other cases.
VU fires back in RESPA case: In other legal news, the home loan company Veterans United has asked the court to dismiss a complaint over steering and misrepresentation.
The case, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri in February, alleges that the private lender misled consumers "by falsely presenting itself as part of the VA [U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs]."
The lawsuit also alleges that VU used a referral network of real estate agents to steer clients its way in violation of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA). The plaintiffs are being represented by Hagens Berman, which was involved in the Moehrl commissions lawsuit and is currently representing a homebuyer in a steering-related lawsuit against Zillow.
The push to dismiss: In their motion requesting a dismissal, attorneys for Veterans United argued that the plaintiffs have failed to state a claim where relief may be granted and do not provide evidence of any deceptive or fraudulent act. They also make a jurisdictional argument, noting that the claims are based on transactions that occurred outside of Missouri, according to the filing.
"The Complaint gets almost nothing right about (Veterans United Home Loans) or (Veterans United Realty)," according to the April 13 filing. "In fact, it is fueled by 'confidential' competitors and largely recycled from complaints filed against other large mortgage lenders."