MLSs must hand over listing data in Sitzer; NAR, Umansky at odds 

In recent court news, the firm responsible for distributing settlement funds to class members in Sitzer/Burnett and Gibson has requested the recusal of a special master appointed last month. Separately, the judge overseeing those cases ordered the settling MLSs to comply with a request to provide seller and listing data. 

Meanwhile, the parties involved in the FTC's antitrust case against Zillow and Redfin are asking for certain witnesses to be barred from testifying at an upcoming bench trial, and lawyers for eXp Realty have filed a revised witness list ahead of the sexual misconduct trial expected to begin at the end of this month.

Additionally, the National Association of Realtors is attempting to compel the release of documents in its battle with ThePLS.com, which revived its legal complaints against the trade association last summer.

Special master's objectivity questioned in Sitzer/Burnett, Gibson

JND Legal Administration, the company tasked with distributing settlement funds in the Sitzer/Burnett and Gibson cases, is requesting the recusal of one of the individuals recently assigned to oversee their work.

Last month, U.S. District Judge Stephen Bough appointed Chris T. Hellums and Randall L. Sansom to serve as special masters in the settlement distribution process. Their job is to make sure the settlement funds are distributed fairly and to help class members understand the costs associated with that process.

But in an Aug. 7 legal filing, lawyers for JND alleged that Hellums has expressed bias against the company in the past — a "significant conflict" that should prevent him from serving as a special master in this case, they argued.

"Mr. Hellums' unfounded and unexplained pronouncement against JND compels his disqualification," the filing stated, adding that Hellums "cannot craft and supervise an audit of JND … when the negative prejudgments he expressed relate directly to JND's veracity."

Judge clears the way for MLS data collection

Also last week, Bough ruled on a separate issue raised by the Sitzer/Burnett plaintiffs in July. FBS, the company behind the MLS platform Flexmls, hadn't yet complied with a subpoena ordering the release of seller and listing data, which the plaintiffs said was required per the terms of the settlement. 

The plaintiffs had asked the court to remind MLSs that they "expressly consented to Plaintiffs obtaining their listing and class member data from third parties, such as MLS platform providers, to support the litigation of the Gibson case."

Bough granted the request in his Aug. 6 ruling, giving the MLSs covered by the settlement until Aug. 13 to file an objection, should they wish to do so.

FTC, Zillow seek to block witness testimony

In the FTC's lawsuit against Zillow and Redfin over their rentals partnership, the parties have filed motions asking the court to exclude testimony from two witnesses.

The FTC wants testimony from Dr. Gautam Gowrisankaran, the defendants' economic expert, excluded when the case goes to trial later this month. Gowrisankaran has presented analyses that are "fundamentally flawed" and "cannot be relied upon" to support his conclusions, the FTC's Aug. 7 filing alleged.

Meanwhile, Zillow and Redfin want testimony from Sam Vida, an executive at Redfin parent Rocket Companies, excluded. Redfin was acquired by Rocket after the rentals deal was finalized, so Rocket was "not involved in negotiating that agreement" and is not a party in the FTC's case, their Aug. 7 filing noted. The FTC has "time and again sought to pull Rocket into this litigation" even though an earlier subpoena seeking discovery from the mortgage giant "offered no indication" of any involvement in the Zillow-Redfin deal.

The case, which accuses the companies of breaking antitrust laws when Zillow became Redfin's exclusive rentals listings provider, is rapidly approaching its scheduled Aug. 25 bench trial.

eXp files witness list ahead of sexual misconduct trial

On Aug. 7, attorneys representing eXp Realty, parent company AGNT (formerly eXp World Holdings) and AGNT Founder, Chairman and CEO Glenn Sanford submitted an amended witness list ahead of the sexual misconduct trial scheduled to begin later this month.

The witness list includes plaintiff Anya Roberts and former eXp agents Michael Bjorkman and David Golden, both defendants in the case. The list also includes several eyewitnesses, psychiatrists and psychologists; experts on human trafficking and digital forensics; and company representatives who can speak to eXp's revenue share program, corporate structure and agent vetting and onboarding process. The only eXp executive on the list is Chief Brokerage Officer Holly Mabery. Sanford is not expected to testify.

Roberts filed the lawsuit in December 2023, claiming that she was drugged and sexually assaulted at an eXp recruiting event. A pre-trial conference is scheduled for Aug. 14, with the trial slated to begin on Aug. 31.

NAR seeks to compel documents in ThePLS.com case

In ThePLS.com's lawsuit against the National Association of Realtors, NAR is seeking to compel documents from UMRO Realty Group, better known as The Agency. 

While UMRO/The Agency is not named in the case, it shares a founder — Mauricio Umansky — with ThePLS.com. UMRO pushed back when NAR subpoenaed the firm last fall, and the two parties have since resolved all requests but one: the release of documents related to other lawsuits previously filed against Umansky and UMRO, which were "named as defendants for an allegedly fraudulent real-estate transaction," the Aug. 7 joint stipulation said. 

That alleged fraud relates directly to NAR's Clear Cooperation Policy, the association argues, which was the pocket listing site's stated cause for filing its initial lawsuit against NAR.

"NAR's understanding — unrefuted by UMRO — is that Umansky, in his role as a real estate agent with UMRO, was accused of committing fraud in a real estate transaction that bears on the issues in this case," the filing states.

UMRO alleges that NAR hasn't sought these documents from the plaintiffs and that, in addition to being "argumentative on its face by alleging 'fraud,'" NAR's request places a "substantial" burden on a firm with limited resources.

NAR and UMRO jointly requested a hearing on the issue later this month.