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Commitments and Contingencies
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2021
Commitments and Contingencies  
Commitments and Contingencies

12. Commitments and Contingencies

A number of putative class action complaints are pending against the National Association of Realtors (“NAR”), Realogy Holdings Corp., HomeServices of America, Inc., RE/MAX, LLC and Keller Williams Realty, Inc. The first was filed on March 6, 2019, by plaintiff Christopher Moehrl in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. The second was filed in the same court on April 15, 2019, by plaintiff Sawbill Strategic, Inc. These two actions have now been consolidated (the “Moehrl Action”). Similar actions have been filed in federal courts: a) by Joshua Sitzer and other plaintiffs in the Western District of Missouri (the “Sitzer Action”); b) by Mark Rubenstein and Jeffery Nolan in the District of Connecticut (the “Rubenstein Action”); c) by plaintiffs Gary Bauman, Mary Jane Bauman, and Jennifer Nosalek in the District of Massachusetts (the “Bauman Action”); d) by plaintiff Judah Leeder in the Northern District of Illinois (the “Leeder Action”) and e) by plaintiff Alfio Conti in the Northern District of California (the “Conti Action”). The complaints make substantially similar allegations and seek substantially similar relief. For convenience, all of these lawsuits are collectively referred to as the “Moehrl-related suits.” In the Moehrl Action, the plaintiffs allege that a NAR rule requires brokers to make a blanket, non-negotiable offer of buyer broker compensation when listing a property, resulting in inflated costs to sellers in violation of federal antitrust law. They further allege that certain defendants use their agreements with franchisees to require adherence to the NAR rule in violation of federal antitrust law. Amended complaints added allegations regarding buyer steering and non-disclosure of buyer-broker compensation to the buyer. While similar to the Moehrl Action, various other lawsuits: allege violations of the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act (the Sitzer Action); include a multiple listing service (MLS) defendant (the Bauman Action); allege state antitrust violations (the Sitzer Action, Bauman Action, and Conti Action); allege harm to home buyers rather than sellers (the Rubenstein Action, Leeder Action, and Conti Action); allege unjust enrichment (the Leeder Action and Conti Action) or unfair competition (the Conti Action); and/or allege violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) rather than antitrust law (the Rubenstein Action). Among other requested relief, plaintiffs seek damages against the defendants and injunctive relief. The Company intends to vigorously defend against all claims. The Company may become involved in additional litigation or other legal proceedings concerning the same or similar claims. We are unable to predict whether resolution of these matters would have a material effect on our financial position or results of operations.