Key Details:
- Lawyers in Missouri filed a new class action commissions lawsuit on behalf of U.S. home sellers, on December 27, 2023.
- Defendants named in the Umpa lawsuits include the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and more than a dozen brokerages. The suit also names several local realtor associations and MLSs as co-conspirators.
- In addition to the complaint, lawyers for both Umpa and Gibson filed a request to consolidate the two cases, along with seven other copycat lawsuits filed in the wake of the Sitzer/Burnett verdict.
On Wednesday, December 27, lawyers in Missouri filed a new class action commissions lawsuit, along with a request to consolidate copycat lawsuits from across the country.
The Umpa case is the 10th reported major antitrust lawsuit filed by U.S. home sellers since October 31, when the Sitzer/Burnett trial ended with a verdict for the plaintiffs.
Read on for the highlights.
Lawsuit details: plaintiffs, class & consolidation request
Lawyers filed the Umpa complaint in the same court that received the Sitzer/Burnett and Gibson cases: the U.S. District Court in the Western District of Missouri.
The plaintiff class, represented by Daniel Umpa, includes anyone in the U.S. (with some exceptions) who used a real estate agent affiliated with one of the corporate defendants to sell a home listed on a multiple listing service (MLS) in the past four years.
Daniel Umpa sold homes in both Ohio and Maryland in the past three years.
As with most other commissions lawsuits filed in the wake of Sitzer/Burnett, the plaintiff claims the defendants, which include the National Association of Realtors (NAR), conspired to enforce anti-competitive policies that caused home sellers to pay inflated commissions.
Not content to simply file a new complaint, lawyers in the Umpa and Gibson cases also filed a separate brief with the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation to request that the two cases be consolidated—along with seven other copycat lawsuits filed in different U.S. districts—and tried by Judge Stephen R. Bough (who presided over the Sitzer/Burnett trial) in the U.S. Western District Court of Missouri.
The seven other cases listed in the consolidation request, along with Umpa and Gibson:
- Grace (San Francisco Bay Area)
- Burton (South Carolina)
- Phillips (Georgia)
- March (New York City)
- Martin (Texas)
- QJ Team (Texas)
- Spring Way Center (Pennsylvania)
The Defendants: Old and New
As mentioned above, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) is one of the defendants listed in the Umpa lawsuit, along with over a dozen major U.S. brokerages. The suit also names several local realtor associations and MLSs as co-conspirators.
The brokerages named in the complaint include—
- HomeServices of America
- Keller Williams
- Compass
- eXp
- Redfin
- Weichert Realtors
- United Real Estate
- Howard Hanna
- Douglas Elliman
- At World
- The Real Brokerage
- Realty One Group
- HomeSmart
Stay tuned as we learn more about the Umpa lawsuit and request for consolidation.
