Douglas Elliman has become the latest brokerage to be released from a contentious homebuyers’ lawsuit regarding real estate broker commissions.
According to combined media reports, the plaintiffs in the Batton 2 lawsuit dismissed the brokerage without prejudice, stating that “dismissal is proper because Douglas Elliman Inc. has not yet served either an answer or a motion for summary judgment.”
Howard Hanna and HomeServices of America were previously voluntarily dismissed from the two Batton homebuyer commission lawsuits. However, the claims against the companies can be refiled at a later date.
The initial Batton case was initially in Illinois by homebuyer Judah Leeder in 2021 but was dismissed the following year and later refiled with another buyer, Mya Batton, taking over as the lead defendant and giving the case her surname. The Batton 2 lawsuit was filed following the Sitzer/Burnett case resulted in a legal defeat to the National Association of Realtors and several major brokerages. Last month, the Batton plaintiffs unsuccessfully tried to block the Sitzer/Burnett settlement agreements reached with Anywhere, Keller Williams and RE/MAX.
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