Michael Ketchmark filed the new lawsuit just moments after a jury sided with his clients in the Sitzer | Burnett case. The new suit claims another batch of companies committed a conspiracy
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Just minutes after a jury sided with a group of homeseller plaintiffs Tuesday in the bombshell Sitzer | Burnett trial, attorney Michael Ketchmark filed a new class action lawsuit accusing another batch of big-name real estate companies of engaging in a conspiracy.
Ketchmark filed the case in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri on behalf of homesellers Don Gibson, Lauren Criss and John Meiners. The case echoes the Sitzer | Burnett suit in challenging the practice of having homesellers pay sales commissions to buyers’ agents. Both suits, as well as the high-profile Moehrl case in Illinois, describe this practice as the result of an industry conspiracy that inflates both agent commissions and costs to consumers.
The new case names seven defendants: Compass, eXp World Holdings, Redfin, Weichert Realtors, United Real Estate, Howard Hanna Real Estate, Douglas Elliman, and the National Association of Realtors.
Fresh off the Sitzer | Burnett jury verdict, Ketchmark told Inman, “Today we also filed a nationwide lawsuit against the other major corporate real estate companies who are involved in this, along with NAR, across the country.
“Our hope and goal is to free the grip they have on homesellers across the United States. It’s time that the free market and the internet is allowed to do its work and to bring the savings to homeowners that they’re so entitled to when they sell their homes.”
Inman reached out to the defendants in the new case Tuesday. Howard Hanna declined to comment, and the others did not immediately respond. Inman will update this story with any additional comments the defendants provide.
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