Real estate players facing a
The National Association of Realtors, HomeServices of America and Keller Williams this week all filed similar motions seeking relief in the case commonly referred to as Sitzer/Burnett. A Kansas City jury last year delivered $1.78 billion in damages to a class of home sellers who suggested the payment structure for buy-side and sell-side Realtors is anti-competitive.
Attorneys for NAR and each brokerage took aim at numerous aspects of the case, including legal standard arguments and criticisms of an expert witness’ testimony regarding damages. One filing suggested plaintiffs’ “irrelevant and prejudicial evidence” inflamed the passions of jurors.
“These motions are part of the post-trial process and detail NAR’s arguments that the verdict was wrong and defied precedent, logic and the evidence,” the association wrote in a statement Friday.
Counsel for the firms also alleged the court’s acknowledgement to jurors of
Michael Ketchmark, the lead attorney for Sitzer/Burnett plaintiffs, told National Mortgage News the defendants’ arguments were already properly overruled by the court at trial.
“We are confident that the court will deny this desperate attempt to avoid justice and ultimately we will win on appeal and bring an end to this price fixing one and for all,” Ketchmark wrote in an email.
The real estate firms’ post-trial motions are most likely a procedural necessity for the plaintiffs and unlikely to lead immediately to a significant change in the course of the case, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reported in an analysis of the development earlier this week.
“There was nothing very surprising in these motions, which mainly included ‘kitchen sink’ arguments that the court already ruled upon, but defendants must file to preserve for a potential appeal,” the note from KBW read.
The analysts point to other looming deadlines that could advance any commission rule changes, such as the fate of the
Despite recent legal developments, current rules mandating seller brokers offer compensation to prospective buyer agents to access multiple listing services, even if it’s $0, remain unchanged. Mortgage experts have been
NAR meanwhile faces its own crises, as its former president Tracy Kasper recently stepped down