The National Association of Realtors (NAR) announced it has reached a settlement resolving claims brought by homebuyers in the class-action antitrust lawsuit Tuccori v. At World Properties related to buyer-agent commissions.
Under the terms of the settlement, which is subject to court approval, NAR will pay $52.25 million into a fund over a multi-year period. The terms of the settlement require continued compliance with the practice changes as part of the Sitzer/Burnett settlement, but do not require any additional practice changes.
Originally filed in January 2024, the Tuccori case was filed by homebuyer James Tuccori against At World Properties. It was expanded to a class action lawsuit involving anyone who purchased a home listed on a NAR-affiliated MLS and used an At World buyer or seller agent since March 2020.
NAR stated it agreed to the settlement to reduce potential financial exposure associated with continued litigation. NAR will seek a stay in the ongoing Batton lawsuit, with the organization claiming the settlement in Tuccori is intended to release the claims in the Batton case.
Nykia Wright, CEO of NAR, stated, “This outcome, which provides a broader level of protection and release for the industry than has been secured in any previous NAR settlement, is a result of NAR’s new legal team’s proactive approach to addressing legal risk and reinforces our commitment to delivering greater value and stability for our members, so they can remain focused on their clients and getting to their next transaction.”
“This outcome is a direct result of the more diligent and strategic legal approach our team has adopted,” said Jon Waclawski, General Counsel of NAR. “We sought this settlement to secure meaningful protections for our members and the industry. We moved decisively to resolve these claims in a way that avoids significant potential liability and NAR more effectively going forward, ensuring our members can continue unlocking the American Dream for generations to come.”
And just where is all that “blood money” coming from?….This is ludicrous and unacceptable.
absolutely right how does NAR have 50 million to throw away. another brilliant job by their “crack”legal team
NAR probably has E&O insurance.
I agree appeasement isn’t the answer. It just brings more wolves to the door until there is nothing left. Fight, FIght, Fight!
So all of our dues just go to pay settlements? NAR should be dissolved so we no longer pay into this antiquated disaster. I want to keep my hard earned money.
When I entered the industry, I realized early that these organizations including all the separate associations are only about collecting money off our backs. Half don’t play well with each other and the consumer ultimately gets the short end of the stick because they want a piece of the pie they did no work for. I now only use an mls that requires no association membership and syndicates to all major platforms. AND I work more ethically than a lot of others I’ve come across in the field that are “REALTORS”.
I totally agree ! I wish we had more brokerages that would agree to disassociate from NAR!
Michelle, let me add to your comment by saying not only are we paying for the settlements but we’re paying no doubt an excessively expensive group of attorneys who are relatively new on the job as I understand all this this is a holy hell disaster y’all
And there go our dues again and for quite some years I imagine! How insane!
Well, we have been pushed under the bus again. NAR has settled with Commission issues and now we are sitting ducks for every attorney that comes out of the wall. Our dues go up and we get less for it. I am NOT being represented and certainly was not given any input. The attorneys are making obscene money all paid by our dues. Shame on everyone who made these decisions.
Spot on. These attorneys suing are wolves. NAR pats itself on the back and we get S++T in return.
It is so sad that the public thinks REALTORS are a rich target, when 2/3 of our members didn’t even have a closing last year.
Enough is enough! The media has made REALTORS out to be villains. REALTORS sacrifice so much for our clients so as to help them get their dream home. We sacrifice time with our families, weekends, long hours in each day to be available when our clients have time. We are then waiting for that hopeful day that we might get a paycheck for all the numerous hours committed to our clients. Then the media puts into the public’s head that we make too much $. REALTORS do more than their clients will ever really realize because that is our job. Sometimes a thankless one. A couple of “bad apples” have the intent of crushing an industry that protects private property rights and right to homeownership. WHY?!?!
Little has changed in my area (Memphis TN Metro), while we are doing a better job explaining that buyer’s agent commissions are negotiable, sellers are still electing to pay a full commission to buyer’s agents as they always did because they want their property to be competitive and want it sold ASAP. If a property is exceptional or high dollar, the commission might be reduced, but that was done in the past too. I do think care should be taken in discussing one situation – when there is no buyer’s agent involved. I personally don’t feel good about taking a full commission in this scenario. Although, I can see it might be justified, I let sellers know up front that I will reduce my commission to X if no other agent is involved in the sale. It is personal for me. Before I became a realtor, I was going through a divorce. Our realtor sold our almost new house to the first person who walked through the door after we spent two years designing, building and decorating the home (on a lake in Knoxville). The realtor got the full commission because no other agent was involved. He received $42k and my (ex)husband and I walked with $80k each. It was very hard for me to swallow that this man took $42k of our hard earned equity for a couple weeks of work, especially in a divorce situation.
Seemed greedy to me as the seller and this is an example of what can give realtors a bad reputation.
You are absolutely right! They only see what we are making at the closing table, but it may have taken months to get there. I do this full-time so I can give ALL of my work life to this and giving my absolute best. That can mean an occasional month with zero closings.
Know your value, yes rates are negotiable but that does not mean we have to cut them. I had some recent ‘friends ‘ ask me to list their home for 3% total commission, and I just said I’m sorry , but no. My colleagues deserve more than 1.5% and so do I. These lawsuits are ridiculous. Shame on NAR.
If 2/3rds of our members have not collected a commission then they either are NOT working or need to find another job!!
I can’t agree with you more Jennifer! When is NAR going to obtain new and effective leadership that stops this absolute sabotage on our Profession. This totally disgusts me, as I too am one of those Realtors, like the majority of us are, that makes many many sacrifices and these damn attorneys and the media are completely painting a totally FALSE picture of what we do!
It seems as though at least an element of the decision to settle was to protect its members from an avalanche of potential individual law suits. This is the “all=knowing AI summary of the situation.
The Allegations: Plaintiff James Tuccori claimed that NAR-promulgated rules made it difficult for buyers to negotiate commissions, resulting in opaque, high fees (usually 5% to 6%) compared to international standards.
The Settlement: In April 2026, NAR reached a $52.25 million settlement, which provided legal immunity for its members, local associations, and MLSs regarding these commission practices.
Opt-in Mechanism: The settlement was structured to allow various real estate companies to opt in, protecting them from further liability related to buyer-agent compensation claims.
Overlap with Other Cases: Tuccori was seen as a key strategy to resolve multiple, similar, and expansive “buy-side” litigation cases (such as Batton v. NAR) that aimed to change how buyer brokers were paid.
This is an on going battle..breaking the backs of Realtors always some new lawsuit we have to pay for..maybe no more NAR how did we get here..
I find it odd and sad that NAR seems to loose every law suit or settles.
How come they are always in the wrong? Seems like the attorneys are the only ones gaining any benefit from all of this.
It’s fight, fight and then cave in and pay.
These comments seem very familiar to me, a 19 year agent. I started in late May 2007. A time when buyers were knocking at your doors for over 5 years! Everyone made a killing! Not much whining then!! I started selling and 90 days later the bottom fell out of sub- prime loans and realtors had to GO BACK to work!! I knew every office had people who whined about the industry but I didn’t know it permeated industry wide!! It HAS NEVER BEEN RIGHT FOR SELLERS TO PAY AGENTS TO NEGOTIATE AGAINST THEM!! Come on agents, quit whining and sell houses!!
The eligible ‘Class Members’ who were supposedly harmed by NAR practices will receive pennies on the dollar which is typically what happens with consumers in these class-action law suits. In the sale/purchase of a $500k home class-member may receive $10 to $50 compensation. While the Class-action attorney firm will receive up to 33% of the settlement which again is typical, that’s $17 mill. And the defense attorney’s won’t make as much but it will certainly be in the millions! And at least in Ohio Nothing has changed it terms of compensation. Just More Paperwork. A Complete Joke!
NAR practices were always clean and well understood for decades. Buyers and Sellers always knew where they stood. Commission was always negotiable! You get a few bad eggs in any industry and and they get caught. Some make mistakes in any industry and most have to compensate the client. There are also selfish and greedy buyers and sellers who try to screw everyone. True example: A police officer buying a property was given lots of credits and work done by an owner for him. They said enough but the Buyer wanted more. So, the officer broke into the house at night and trashed the kitchen so he could have a new kitchen. Agents were told “he’s crazy, just give him what he wants”. The owner and both agents were so terrified to have him arrested that they remodeled the kitchen for free($40,000 or more) just to close the sale!!! 98% of agents are good people and follow the NAR rules to safeguard themselves and their clients. All these lawsuits are truly bogus against NAR!!!
I agree with the comments the NAR settles but we are small time realtors that work for the people not a commission. Now the question is where are they going to get the funds to pay? I don’t think its fair because I sure did not make unethical commissions.
The whole situation is ridiculous and nonsensitcal. Forbidding sellers and agents who WANT to offer buyer agent compensation to make their listings more marketable is a restriction of free speech that doesn’t serve those sellers.
NAR sold us out! Nine out of the 12 jurors never even bought a home before. NAR attorneys allowed that to happen then cave with no appeal? Where did NAR get that kind of money? They work us, we don’t work for them!!!
I dont understand how this could happen at all and now we have to do this whole tap dance about commissions….Liquor sales people are on commission…so are many sales people….the world knows that all costs are built in to a product…..