HomeServices, Elliman notch legal wins in commission suit saga

While their homebuyer commission lawsuit settlement agreements are still waiting for final approval, both HomeServices of America and Douglas Elliman notched legal wins this week in the homebuyer commission litigation saga. 

In a ruling Tuesday, Florida-based District Court Judge K. Michael Moore denied the Lutz plaintiffs’ preliminary injunction motion seeking to prevent HomeServices of America and Douglas Elliman from proceeding with the homebuyer commission lawsuit settlements they negotiated via Tuccori lawsuit’s opt-in settlement function. 

In their motion, the Lutz plaintiffs called the settlements a “reverse auction,” claiming that the defendants “picked a plaintiff with weaker claims and weaker counsel in an effort to negotiate a more favorable settlement,” and noting that the opt-in settlements came after the court overseeing the Lutz lawsuit denied most of the defendants’ motion to dismiss the Lutz lawsuit.

“These plaintiffs never sued the Defendants, but are now selling Defendants a release of Plaintiffs’ claims here in exchange for fees. Defendants bought this release from plaintiffs who not only did not sue them, but could not without their consent, given Defendants’ professed lack of personal jurisdiction over them in Illinois,” the filing stated.

In the ruling, Judge Moore wrote that the court found that the plaintiffs “would not be irreparably harmed without a preliminary injunction,” especially given that mechanisms for them to challenge the settlement before the Tuccori court exist. 

“Plaintiffs’ argument is based on speculative harm, which is not sufficient on a motion for preliminary injunction.” 

Lutz suit stayed

In addition to this ruling, Judge Moore also granted the defendants’ motion to stay the case until the Tuccori court issues a final decision on whether to approve the defendants’ opt-in settlement agreements, which would settle all nationwide homebuyer commission lawsuit claims. 

In the ruling, the judge noted that in the Tuccori court’s preliminary approval of the settlements, members of the settlement class were “temporarily enjoined from filing, commencing, prosecuting, intervening in, or pursuing as a plaintiff or class member, against any Settling Defendant, Opt-In Settlor, or Released Party, any Released Claims.” 

“To avoid forcing Plaintiffs to choose between complying with this Court’s orders and with the Tuccori Court’s order, this Court finds that a stay of this case in its entirety is appropriate,” Judge Moore wrote in the ruling. 

In addition to these two rulings, Judge Moore also instructed the clerk of the court to “administratively close” the case.

A final approval hearing for the Tuccori settlements is scheduled for late July.