The Commission Lawsuits Are Eating Each Other Now
The Commission Lawsuits Are Eating Each Other Now
February 26, 2026 | Industry News
TL;DR: The Batton plaintiffs are trying to block Anywhere Real Estate's settlement in a separate lawsuit, accusing the mega-brokerage of shopping for the weakest lawyers to cut a cheap deal. The settlement may be under $10.78 million — a fraction of what Anywhere paid in Sitzer/Burnett. While the lawyers fight over who gets to sue whom, the commission landscape keeps shifting under everyone's feet.
What Happened
Two commission lawsuits just collided in an Illinois courtroom, and it's getting ugly — between the plaintiffs.
The Batton homebuyer commission lawsuit plaintiffs filed a motion this week to intervene in the Tuccori case after learning that Anywhere Real Estate had negotiated a settlement with the Tuccori plaintiffs. The problem? Anywhere is already a defendant in Batton for the same alleged conduct.
The Batton team isn't mincing words. They're accusing Anywhere of running a "reverse auction" — essentially shopping around for the most favorable (read: cheapest) settlement by picking what they call "the most ineffectual class lawyers" to negotiate with.
Here's where the Compass connection matters: Anywhere began negotiating the Tuccori settlement after being acquired by Compass. Compass is a defendant in Batton II but is notably absent from the Tuccori suit. Connect the dots on that one yourself.
The settlement amount is under seal, but the Batton filing claims it's less than $10.78 million. For context, Anywhere paid $83.5 million to settle Sitzer/Burnett. Tuccori opt-in requires paying at least 25% of that amount — so the floor should be around $20.9 million. Coming in under $10.78 million would be a steep discount.
Compare that to Keller Williams, which paid $20 million to settle with Batton plaintiffs — roughly 28% of their $70 million Sitzer/Burnett tab. KW's settlement got preliminary approval earlier this month.
The judge overseeing Tuccori isn't thrilled either. She told Tuccori counsel that their motion to amend the complaint is unlikely to be granted and ordered an in-person hearing on March 4, where he'll need to explain why certain information wasn't disclosed as required by law.
The Batton plaintiffs want all Anywhere-related claims consolidated under one judge. If the Tuccori settlement gets approved anyway, they've already said they'll appeal.
Why It Matters for Texas Agents
You might be thinking: two groups of lawyers fighting over settlement money — why should I care?
Because the outcome shapes whether commission lawsuits actually change anything or just become a money shuffle between legal teams.
The "reverse auction" accusation is the real story. If large brokerages can settle with the most accommodating plaintiff group for pennies on the dollar, the commission lawsuits lose their teeth. The settlements become PR moves, not structural changes. And the underlying business model — where agents pay splits and fees that eat into their earnings — stays intact.
For Texas agents specifically:
- Compass now owns Anywhere, which means one of the largest brokerage operations in the state is tangled up in multiple overlapping lawsuits with conflicting plaintiff groups
- Settlement costs flow downhill. When brokerages pay hundreds of millions in legal settlements, those costs get recovered somewhere — often through desk fees, technology charges, or split adjustments that hit agents
- The instability is the point. Every month brings another filing, another settlement, another acquisition. The brokerages at the center of this chaos aren't getting simpler to work with
What You Should Do
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Stop waiting for the lawsuits to "settle things." The legal battles have been going for over two years since Sitzer/Burnett, and they're getting more complicated, not less. Don't build your business plan around a court ruling.
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Know your numbers. If your brokerage is a defendant in commission lawsuits, understand what that might mean for your fees. Ask your broker directly: "Has our fee structure changed or will it change because of settlement costs?"
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Control what you can control. The agents who come out ahead in any market shift are the ones who already know their per-transaction costs down to the dollar. Run the math on what you're actually keeping after splits, fees, and franchise costs.
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Evaluate your model. An agent closing $5 million in volume at a traditional 70/30 split is handing over roughly $45,000 a year in commission splits alone. On a flat-fee model, that same agent keeps everything above their monthly cost.
The Bigger Picture
We're watching the commission lawsuit era enter its messiest phase. The straightforward cases have settled. What's left is a web of overlapping claims, competing plaintiff groups, and mega-brokerages maneuvering through mergers to manage their legal exposure.
The Compass-Anywhere merger created the largest residential brokerage in the country. It also created a legal entity spanning multiple lawsuits across multiple jurisdictions with conflicting plaintiff groups fighting over who gets to represent the same class of homebuyers.
For agents, the takeaway hasn't changed: the traditional brokerage model is under pressure from every direction — legal, financial, and competitive. The agents who thrive are the ones who stopped waiting for the dust to settle and started optimizing their business now.
The March 4 hearing could be telling. If the judge allows the Batton intervention, it signals courts aren't going to let brokerages play plaintiff groups against each other. If she doesn't, expect more of these "reverse auction" settlement strategies.
Either way, your commission check on your next closing doesn't depend on what happens in an Illinois courtroom. It depends on your split.
Sources: - Commission case showdown: Batton plaintiffs move to derail Anywhere settlement, HousingWire, February 26, 2026
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