NAR homebuyer commission settlement hearing set for Nov. 2

Nearly two years after the National Association of Realtors (NAR) received final approval on its home seller commission lawsuit settlement, the trade group is hoping to receive final approval on its home buyer commission lawsuit settlement. 

In an order from late June, which was not filed in the court docket until last week, Judge Linsay Jenkins, who is overseeing the Tuccori homebuyer commission lawsuit, announced that a final approval hearing for the Tuccori lawsuit opt-in settlements was scheduled for Nov. 2, 2026. 

The order for the fairness hearing came after another hearing during which Judge Jenkins approved the manner and form of how the settlement class notices. 

The opt-in settlements that will be up for final approval include those those reached by NAR ($52.25 million), Compass ($7.33 million), eXp World Holdings ($4.34 million), Hanna Holdings ($8.25), HomeServices of America ($30 million) and Douglas Elliman ($2.04 million). The settlements all received preliminary approval in May. 

In total, the settling parties in Tuccori have contributed more than $120 million into the Global Settlement Fund. 

The firms that opted into the Tuccori settlement were originally defendants in suits like Batton 1 and 2, Cwynar, Davis and Lutz.

Since these opt-in settlements were announced, the  plaintiffs in other homebuyer commission lawsuits have sought to prevent the settlements from gaining approval. 

In the preliminary approval order for the opt-in settlements, Judge Jenkins wrote that the terms of the settlement, including the amount of each proposed opt-in agreement, are “fair, reasonable and adequate.” She ruled they were negotiated at arm’s length by experienced counsel acting in good faith, including through multiple mediation sessions overseen by a court-appointed special master for mediation.

The judge also wrote that the opt-in agreements were “reached as a result of those negotiations; there has been adequate opportunity for experienced counsel to evaluate the claims and risks at this stage of the litigation; and the Court will likely be able to approve the Opt-In Agreements.”