U.S. homeowners could receive part of a $208.5 million settlement stemming from a major antitrust lawsuit that targeted several major real estate brokerages.

Why It Matters

The class-action case and its resulting reforms mark a turning point in how real estate commissions are structured. As Bankrate reported, commissions in the United States have traditionally been around 5 percent of a home’s sale price.

The lawsuit alleges that American homeowners were forced to pay inflated real estate agent commissions, with Keller Williams, Anywhere Real Estate, HomeServices of America, Re/Max and Redfin all being impacted by the settlement.

What To Know

The case, Joshua Sitzer, et al. v. The National Association of Realtors, et al., alleged that longstanding industry commission practices violated federal antitrust laws and led to inflated fees for home sellers.

The litigation challenged the standard rule requiring sellers to offer compensation to buyers’ agents via Multiple Listing Service (MLS), a practice plaintiffs said stifled competition and kept commissions artificially high. As part of the settlement, significant reforms to commission practices went into effect in August 2024.

Sellers can now choose whether to offer buyer agent compensation through MLS platforms—a change that has already begun reshaping how homes are bought and sold across the country.

The $208.5 million fund will be distributed among qualifying home sellers who submit claims by the established May 9 deadline. Payout amounts will vary based on the number of valid claims received and other settlement factors.

Who Is Eligible?

You could be eligible for the settlement money if you sold a home during the eligible date range, listed a home that was sold on a multiple listing service anywhere in the United States and paid a commission to a real estate brokerage in connection with the sale of the home.

This includes:

ANYWHERE and RE/MAX settlements

Eligibility window: April 29, 2014, through February 1, 2024:

• Heartland MLS (encompassing the Kansas City metropolitan area, counties in eastern Kansas, counties in southwest Missouri, and counties in northwest Missouri);
• MARIS MLS (encompassing the St. Louis metropolitan area, counties in eastern Missouri, and counties in western Illinois);
• Columbia Board of Realtors MLS (encompassing Columbia, Missouri and its surrounding areas);
• Southern Missouri Regional MLS (encompassing Springfield and Joplin, Missouri and their surrounding areas)

Eligibility window: March 6, 2016, through February 1, 2024:

• Bright MLS (Delaware, Baltimore, Maryland area, District of Columbia, parts of New Jersey, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area, Richmond, Virginia areas, parts of West Virginia);
• Carolina/Canopy MLS (Charlotte, North Carolina area, including portions of South Carolina);
• Triangle MLS (Research Triangle Area, North Carolina);
• Stellar MLS (Tampa, Orlando, and Sarasota, Florida areas);
• Miami MLS (Miami, Florida area);
• Florida Gulf Coast (Fort Myers, Florida area);
• Metro MLS (parts of Wisconsin, including the Milwaukee areas);
• Yes MLS/MLS Now (Cleveland, Ohio, Eastern Ohio, and parts of West Virginia);
• Columbus Realtors MLS (Columbus, Ohio areas);
• Northstar MLS (Minnesota, Wisconsin);
• Wasatch Front/Utah Real Estate (Salt Lake City, Utah area);
• REcolorado/Metrolist (Denver, Colorado area);
• Pikes Peak MLS (Colorado Springs, Colorado area);
• GLVAR MLS (Las Vegas, Nevada area);
• SABOR (San Antonio, Texas area);
• ACTRIS/ABOR (Austin, Texas area);
• HAR MLS (Houston, Texas area);
• NTREIS (Dallas, Texas area);
• ARMLS (Phoenix, Arizona area);
• Realcomp II (Detroit, Michigan area)
• Eligibility window December 17, 2016, through February 1, 2024

Eligibility window December 17, 2016, through February 1, 2024:

Eligibility window February 1, 2020, through February 1, 2024:

• Any MLS in the United States other than the MLSs listed above

Keller Williams

Eligibility window: April 29, 2014, through February 1, 2024:

• Heartland MLS (encompassing the Kansas City metropolitan area, counties in eastern Kansas, counties in southwest Missouri, and counties in northwest Missouri);
• MARIS MLS (encompassing the St. Louis metropolitan area, counties in eastern Missouri, and counties in western Illinois);
• Columbia Board of Realtors MLS (encompassing Columbia, Missouri and its surrounding areas);
• Southern Missouri Regional MLS (encompassing Springfield and Joplin, Missouri and their surrounding areas)

Eligibility window: March 6, 2016, through February 1, 2024:

• Bright MLS (Delaware, Baltimore, Maryland area, District of Columbia, parts of New Jersey, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area, Richmond, Virginia areas, parts of West Virginia);
• Carolina/Canopy MLS (Charlotte, North Carolina area, including portions of South Carolina);
• Triangle MLS (Research Triangle Area, North Carolina);
• Stellar MLS (Tampa, Orlando, and Sarasota, Florida areas);
• Miami MLS (Miami, Florida area);
• Florida Gulf Coast (Fort Myers, Florida area);
• Metro MLS (parts of Wisconsin, including the Milwaukee areas);
• Yes MLS/MLS Now (Cleveland, Ohio, Eastern Ohio, and parts of West Virginia);
• Columbus Realtors MLS (Columbus, Ohio areas);
• Northstar MLS (Minnesota, Wisconsin);
• Wasatch Front/Utah Real Estate (Salt Lake City, Utah area);
• REcolorado/Metrolist (Denver, Colorado area);
• Pikes Peak MLS (Colorado Springs, Colorado area);
• GLVAR MLS (Las Vegas, Nevada area);
• SABOR (San Antonio, Texas area);
• ACTRIS/ABOR (Austin, Texas area);
• HAR MLS (Houston, Texas area);
• NTREIS (Dallas, Texas area)
• ARMLS (Phoenix, Arizona area); and
• Realcomp II (Detroit, Michigan area)

Eligibility window December 17, 2016, through February 1, 2024:

Eligibility window October 31, 2019, through February 1, 2024:

• Any MLS in the United States other than the MLSs listed above

Eligibility requires that the home was sold through a covered brokerage, but homeowners do not need to demonstrate personal financial harm or provide proof of commission amounts. No legal representation is necessary to file.

The deadline to submit a claim is May 9. Claims can be filed online or by mail.

What People Are Saying

Michael Ryan, a finance expert and the founder of MichaelRyanMoney.com, told Newsweek: “The NAR settlement is the real estate industry’s ‘Moneyball moment.’ For decades, the 5-6% commission structure was an unquestioned standard. At its core, this settlement addresses allegations that NAR’s rules forced sellers to pay both their agent and the buyer’s agent through MLS. Imagine going to a car dealership and being told you must pay the salesperson working for the person buying your trade-in. That’s essentially what was happening in real estate.”

Nationwide title and escrow expert Alan Chang told Newsweek: “Contracts don’t have commissions hard-coded into the contract and they have always been negotiable, but those facts didn’t seem to have been noted. Largely, the market has not changed. Commissions are still up for negotiations as they always have been, now there may be additional paperwork that calls this out in some markets.”

Alex Beene, a financial literacy instructor for the University of Tennessee, told Newsweek: “When homeowners hear this, they naturally get excited, as no one likes to pay a hefty commission to real estate agents on top of an already massive financial exchange like selling a home… They need to dig into the specifics of the settlement to see if they qualify, and then take the next steps to receive their piece of it.”

“And while cases like this may dissuade some sellers and buyers in an already hostile real estate market, odds are high prices and interest rates continue to lower sales more than any fears of a bloated commission fee.”

What Happens Next

Home sellers have until the May 9 deadline to file for settlement money.

Those who sold a home between roughly 2019 and 2024 using a major brokerage named in the lawsuits are likely eligible for compensation.

“The typical seller won’t see life-changing money here, settlements rarely work that way, but it’s worth pursuing what’s rightfully yours,” Ryan said.

“For sellers, the immediate impact is straightforward: freedom. You can choose whether to offer buyer agent compensation. On a $500,000 home, negotiating commission down from 6 percent to 4 percent saves you $10,000.”

Moving forward, Ryan said highly skilled real estate agents will likely continue charging premium rates, but agents that can’t show their value proposition will struggle.

“Real estate transactions will become more transparent, negotiable, and ultimately, more consumer-friendly,” Ryan said.