New Rules for Realtors

[aja8888]

I clicked into the link and looked at the form.


Although there are some geographies that go back as far as 2014, the majority of claimants are probably in the group defined by "Any MLS in the United States other than the MLSs listed above: February 1, 2020 through February 1, 2024".


I thought it was just with the companies in the suit, but it says "You do not need to have sold a home using an Anywhere, RE/MAX, or Keller Williams agent to make a claim."

I have not received a letter with a pin either, but have sold a home through RE/Max in the time period. I'm submitting a claim also. Maybe all the letters have not gone out yet? Or they sent it to my old address and it didn't get forwarded?

 

[street]

So, is there any place to get the form to file a claim other than not having a PIN that was mentioned?

I will try to do some leg work for my son that bought a half million dollar home in 2020. Maybe they could fill a claim if it goes back to 2020. I think he paid 7% of purchase price.

I know the last time I checked here on cost to REA it was 7%. To High!!!

The last couple of land purchased I did was one on one with seller. We went and kicked the weeds around and came up with a price and fined tuned the logistics and shook hands.

 

[cathy63]

So, is there any place to get the form to file a claim other than not having a PIN that was mentioned?

Yes. If you just want a paper form to print out, it's here: https://www.realestatecommissionlit...a8f3-a65051f2b645&languageId=1033&inline=true

If you want to submit it online, go to the website in my previous post. Click on File a Claim, then scroll to the bottom of the page and click the button below "If you do not have a PIN..."

I will try to do some leg work for my son that bought a half million dollar home in 2020. Maybe they could fill a claim if it goes back to 2020. I think he paid 7% of purchase price.

I know the last time I checked here on cost to REA it was 7%. To High!!!

The last couple of land purchased I did was one on one with seller. We went and kicked the weeds around and came up with a price and fined tuned the logistics and shook hands.

Yes, it goes back to 2020; earlier in most states.

 

[street]

Yes. If you just want a paper form to print out, it's here: https://www.realestatecommissionlit...a8f3-a65051f2b645&languageId=1033&inline=true

If you want to submit it online, go to the website in my previous post. Click on File a Claim, then scroll to the bottom of the page and click the button below "If you do not have a PIN..."



Yes, it goes back to 2020; earlier in most states.

Thanks, cathy63, I somehow missed the hard copy form in your post. Thank you very much!!!

 

[SecondAttempt]

When our house was for sale (during Covid) our agent scheduled showings with buyers - and their agents. The buyers were always accompanied by their agent.

We would not have wanted potential buyers (or indeed people who weren't even considering buying) wandering unaccompanied around the house.

I think must be location specific. In both Arizona and Hawaii I have looked at dozens of houses/condos and only recall one time when the seller's agent or seller was actually present and that was my current house which was a FSBO so the seller was present.

In the process of looking in Kona I learned that almost all the lockboxes have the same combination! I doubt that has changed. So much for security huh!

 

[SecondAttempt]

To file a claim, go here: https://www.realestatecommissionlitigation.com/

We sold a home in 2023 in CA. To the best of my knowledge, our seller's agent is not affilliated with any of the agencies that are participating in the settlement, and we didn't get a notice in the mail. I don't know if we'll get anything, but I went ahead and submitted a claim anyway.

The FAQ on the page you referenced is pretty clear. It applies to ANY sale that was listed on MLS anywhere in the United States during certain date periods. The most restrictive is Feb 1, 2020 through Feb 1, 2024 so you should be eligible. But they are pretty vague about how much you might get or when.

https://www.realestatecommissionlitigation.com/faq

Wishing you the best for a nice check in the mail! My home sales are outside the settlement period.

 

[cathy63]

The FAQ on the page you referenced is pretty clear. It applies to ANY sale that was listed on MLS anywhere in the United States during certain date periods. The most restrictive is Feb 1, 2020 through Feb 1, 2024 so you should be eligible. But they are pretty vague about how much you might get or when.

https://www.realestatecommissionlitigation.com/faq

Wishing you the best for a nice check in the mail! My home sales are outside the settlement period.

Thanks for the good wishes! I figured it was worth trying, but my hopes for a decent payout are low. I suspect most of the money will go to clients of the big realtors who settled and the rest of us will get a token amount.

Claimants have until May 2025 to submit, so I figure it'll be at least September 2025 before any money is handed out. By then I'll have forgotten all about it, and when a check arrives it'll just be a nice surprise that pays for a couple of fancy coffees.

 

[freedomatlast]

With $500K on the table I didn't want to get emotional with an unreasonable counter party

What's a counter party?

 

[MichaelB]

What's a counter party?

A birthday celebration at a fast food restaurant?



./.

Sorry, I couldn’t hold back.

 

[Gremlin]

A birthday celebration at a fast food restaurant?



./.

Sorry, I couldn’t hold back.

I’m glad you didn’t hold back. That was good for a chuckle!

 

[djsander]

Not to burst anybody's bubble unless you are one of the original plaintiffs it should be about a $5 gift card. The settlement is $208.5 million. Just the period between 2020 and 2024 there were over 20 million home sales. The lawyers are asking for a third plus expenses. So just by those numbers if everyone applied that qualified then $10/person - expenses. Considering the original plaintiffs get more and then some that are eligible won’t ever file a claim plus there’s a wider range of dates for the people covered by the original realtors $5 should be close.

 

[Fermion]

Yep. At best on most of these things you get a coupon for free cheese rolls at Red Lobster with a $25 entree purchase.

 

[olyveoil]

Do people really go to a realtor to look for homes any more?

I suspect most people start out on Zillow, Realtor.com, Facebook Marketplace, FSBO, Craig's List and whatever else a search brings up.

When and if they find something interesting, the ad might point toward a listing agent. Or the owner. As a buyer, I don't really care how it's listed. Low or no commission would be a selling point.

Yes. People do go to buyer's agents. Particularly if one is new to the area and/or are shopping remotely. I actually find more value from a buyer's agent than a seller's agent. Too many selling agents rely on the 3P's. Place/Post/Pray

 

[olyveoil]

One of my favorite words is "disintermediation." There is a massive class of people who have had jobs basically as intermediaries who control information and charge for providing it. Insurance agents are an early example of someone getting disintermediated. Term life, property and casualty, etc. can be researched and purchased on the internet without involvement of an intermediary. Many other examples exist. Here we are talking about the disintermediation of real estate agents. While they still may have skills that they can use to make a living, the internet history and this settlement have made it clear that simply being an intermediary controlling access to real estate market information is no longer possible. Viewing markets with an eye for vulnerable intermediaries can be at least interesting and possibly even profitable.

Agree. Now queue up health insurance companies writ large.

 

[sgood]

Yes. People do go to buyer's agents. Particularly if one is new to the area and/or are shopping remotely. I actually find more value from a buyer's agent than a seller's agent. Too many selling agents rely on the 3P's. Place/Post/Pray

Hi,

If you don't mind sharing, how much do you compensate a buyer's agent?

TIA

 

[olyveoil]

Hi,

If you don't mind sharing, how much do you compensate a buyer's agent?

TIA

Bought in FL. Seller paid full 6% in FL. 3% to buyer agent and 3 to seller agent. I found the buyer agent to be valuable.

Sold in SC. I (seller) paid 6% regretfully. Seller agent staged the home and did the normal communications to buyer's agent, etc. The best value brought by seller's agent was having good references for foundation repair. Else, not worth 6%.
3% to seller agent and 3% to buyer agent.


Here is what will happen imo. There will be services offered at X$. Staging, marketing, photos, closing references, labor references, etc. There will still be incestuous same agency relationships on what houses get recommended and same shady BS with disclosures and selective amnesia.

 

[sgood]

Bought in FL. Seller paid full 6% in FL. 3% to buyer agent and 3 to seller agent. I found the buyer agent to be valuable.

Sold in SC. I (seller) paid 6% regretfully. Seller agent staged the home and did the normal communications to buyer's agent, etc. The best value brought by seller's agent was having good references for foundation repair. Else, not worth 6%.
3% to seller agent and 3% to buyer agent.


Here is what will happen imo. There will be services offered at X$. Staging, marketing, photos, closing references, labor references, etc. There will still be incestuous same agency relationships on what houses get recommended and same shady BS with disclosures and selective amnesia.

Any move toward fixed price is progress to me.

 

[djsander]

Bought in FL. Seller paid full 6% in FL. 3% to buyer agent and 3 to seller agent. I found the buyer agent to be valuable.

Sold in SC. I (seller) paid 6% regretfully. Seller agent staged the home and did the normal communications to buyer's agent, etc. The best value brought by seller's agent was having good references for foundation repair. Else, not worth 6%.
3% to seller agent and 3% to buyer agent.


Here is what will happen imo. There will be services offered at X$. Staging, marketing, photos, closing references, labor references, etc. There will still be incestuous same agency relationships on what houses get recommended and same shady BS with disclosures and selective amnesia.

Our previous home sale the agent was terrible. Won’t go into everything. The house we purchased when we moved has been the best agent we’ve ever encountered. We were new to the area and so she toured us around, told us what areas to stay away from, had a list of different specialty inspectors and overall inspectors. Was she worth the 3% buyers fee? No. She worked a lot, but start doing the number of hours put in and splitting that 3% with the main office and she was paid better than a lot of attorneys. The big kicker going forward is what will the fee for services be? I would pay $100/hour or a little more, but they’ve been getting the equivalent of probably 5 to 10 times or more than that. Nothing against them, but there reaches a point where the compensation became unreasonable and now they will be feeling the effects.

 

[USGrant1962]

Interesting article on this subject. What caught my eye is that there are more REALTORS than homes on the market! I've observed that there are a lot of part timers in that business, and why not when selling a few houses a year generates a really nice side income. I think one of the effects of this settlement will be fewer part-time Realtors, which should increase the professionalism and skill/experience level of your average Realtor.

https://www.reuters.com/breakingviews/market-forces-knock-ominously-us-realtors-door-2024-04-12/

There are links in the article to the data that didn't paste over:

NEW YORK, April 12 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The United States has more than 1.5 million realtors, [opens new tab] helping people buy and sell homes – more agents than there are currently homes for sale, [opens new tab]. That odd imbalance is the result of decades of distortions that have benefited the real-estate industry at the expense of its customers. A recent ruling promises to change the way homebuying works, creating some winners, and many losers both in the industry and around it.

The article goes on to discuss disintermediation, using the example of financial brokerage research and sales.

 

[Teacher Terry]

Not to burst anybody's bubble unless you are one of the original plaintiffs it should be about a $5 gift card. The settlement is $208.5 million. Just the period between 2020 and 2024 there were over 20 million home sales. The lawyers are asking for a third plus expenses. So just by those numbers if everyone applied that qualified then $10/person - expenses. Considering the original plaintiffs get more and then some that are eligible won’t ever file a claim plus there’s a wider range of dates for the people covered by the original realtors $5 should be close.

In the past this has been true but the last few I joined were definitely worth my time. I received 650 from the capital one lawsuit. Never before have I been required to submit proof like in this one so I am guessing that will knock out some people who won’t have the paperwork or won’t bother.

 

[pb4uski]

We just listed our Florida condo with a realtor this week. 6% commisson but she offered without our prompting to discount that to 5% if she is also the buyer's realtor. I thought that was fair.

She recently sold two units in our building fairly quickly and in once case was also the buyer's realtor... so we are hopeful that it sells quickly.