Midwest-based independent brokerage Sibcy Cline is the latest firm to settle the commission lawsuits. On Friday, the plaintiffs in the Keel suit filed a motion for preliminary approval of a settlement reached with Sibcy Cline. This filing came just one day after the plaintiffs filed an amended complaint adding Sibcy Cline as a defendant.
Despite being named after lead plaintiff Jeremy Keel, the list of plaintiffs includes many names the real estate industry is familiar with, such as Rhonda Burnett, Don Gibson, Daniel Umpa and Christopher Moehrl.
The lawsuit was originally filed on Jan. 27 against Side, Washington Fine Properties, Seven Gables Real Estate, First Team Real Estate — Orange County, Signature Properties of Huntington, Cairn Real Estate Holdings, the parent company of J.P. Piccinini Real Estate Services, aka JPAR, Central New York Information Service, and Brooklyn New York MLS. All parties filed motions for preliminary approval of settlements on the same day the suit was filed. The original defendants received preliminary approval of their settlements last Tuesday.
The lawsuit contains the same allegations as other commission lawsuits, accusing the real estate brokerage and MLS defendants of colluding to artificially inflate real estate agent commissions.
According to last week’s filing, Sibcy Cline has agreed to settle the suit for $895,000, bringing the total settlement amount in the Keel suit to $11.465 million.
The defendants have also agreed to make the same business practice changes as those outlined in the brokerage settlements in the Gibson/Umpa and Sitzer/Burnett suits.
“The Sibcy Cline Settlement is materially the same as all other settlements in this case that the Court approved,” the filing reads. “As with the prior settlements, this Settlement was reached after an investigation of the Defendant’s financial condition and ability to pay a judgment or settlement. The Settlement is fair, reasonable, and adequate, and beneficial to the Settlement Classes.”
The proposed settlement class includes anyone who sold a home that was listing on an MLS anywhere in the U.S. where a commission was paid to any brokerage in connection with the sal of the home between Oct. 31, 2019 to the date of the class notice.
A final approval hearing for all the settlements is scheduled for June 24. Judge Stephen R. Bough who is overseeing the Gibson and Sitzer/Burnett suits will preside over this hearing.
Sibcy Cline has over 1,000 agents operating in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana.
