The Realtor Commission Settlement Is Final — but Home Sellers Are Still Waiting to Be Paid
Published November 3, 2026
The legal fight over real estate commissions is effectively over. What has not happened yet is the part millions of home sellers care about most: getting paid.
On August 19, 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit unanimously upheld the Sitzer/Burnett settlement, the landmark deal in which the National Association of Realtors (NAR) agreed to pay $418 million and change the rules governing how agents are paid. The court rejected all seven appeals, and on October 2 it formally closed the case. Barring a long-shot request for Supreme Court review, the settlement is final.
And yet home sellers who filed claims still have no payment date — while the settlement accounts holding their money sit at more than $711 million.
How the case got here
Home sellers sued NAR and major brokerages arguing that the industry's rules forced them to pay the buyer's agent as well as their own, keeping total commissions artificially high — typically around 5% to 6% of the sale price. In October 2023, a Missouri jury sided with the sellers and awarded $1.78 billion in damages, a figure that under antitrust law could have been tripled.
Facing that exposure, NAR settled in March 2024. The deal combined the $418 million payment, made in installments over roughly four years, with practice changes that took effect in August 2024: offers to pay the buyer's agent disappeared from MLS listings, and buyers now sign a written agreement with their own agent, spelling out how that agent will be paid, before touring homes.
Eligible sellers — homeowners who sold through an MLS between 2014 and August 17, 2024 and paid a buyer's agent commission — had until May 9, 2025 to file a claim. That deadline has passed.
A year of appeals, all rejected
Approval did not end the case. Seven objectors appealed, arguing among other things that the payout was inadequate and that the settlement improperly released claims beyond the original lawsuits. The 8th Circuit rejected those arguments in full on August 19, 2026.
On September 1, the same court affirmed an additional $110.6 million in brokerage settlements in the related Gibson litigation, bringing the total collected for the class to about $1.02 billion. The court denied rehearing requests on September 24 and issued its mandate on October 2, returning the case to the trial court for distribution.
$711 million in the accounts, and counting
According to financial disclosures filed in federal court in late October 2026, the settlement accounts held a combined $711,251,720.86 as of September 30, 2026. They earned about $17.7 million in interest during the first nine months of 2026, while roughly $5.8 million was transferred out for purposes the filings do not identify; they do not show money distributed directly to sellers.
The administrator, JND Legal Administration, has reported receiving and processing more than 2.7 million claim submissions. Verifying that volume of claims — confirming each sale, its MLS, and the commission paid — is the main reason distribution takes so long. Its work is also under a court-ordered audit.
When payments do go out, they will be made pro rata: the net fund, after attorneys' fees and administration costs, is divided in proportion to the commission each valid claimant paid. No per-person amount has been announced, and no estimated payment date has been published.
A separate settlement for homebuyers
Sellers were not the only ones who sued. In Tuccori v. At World Properties, homebuyers argued that inflated commissions pushed up the prices they paid for homes. That case produced a separate $120,334,500 settlement with NAR and 25 real estate companies.
The buyer claim deadline was October 27, 2026, with 132,406 claims submitted as of early October. A federal judge in Chicago held the final approval hearing on November 2, 2026. A decision was still pending as of this writing, and buyer payments cannot begin until approval is granted and any appeals conclude.
What this means if you are buying or selling now
The courtroom phase is over, but the rule changes are the lasting effect. Commissions are negotiable in a way they were not before 2024: sellers decide whether to offer anything toward the buyer's agent, and buyers agree to their agent's compensation in writing up front. If you are preparing to sell, you can start by getting matched with a local agent (/match) in your market. If you are buying, run the full cost of a purchase, including agent compensation, with our mortgage calculator (/calculator) before you sign a buyer agreement.
Frequently asked questions
When will home sellers receive their settlement payments?
No date has been announced. With appeals concluded in October 2026, the administrator is still verifying claims; payments follow that process and court approval of the distribution plan.
How much will each seller receive?
Amounts have not been announced. Payments are pro rata, based on the commission each claimant paid, from a net fund reduced by attorneys' fees and administration costs. With millions of claims filed, individual payments are expected to be modest.
Is the NAR settlement final?
Yes, for practical purposes. The 8th Circuit upheld it on August 19, 2026 and closed the appeals on October 2, 2026. Objectors could still ask the Supreme Court to review the case, but that is considered a long shot.
I sold a home but never filed a claim. Can I still file?
No. The seller claim deadline was May 9, 2025, and the buyer claim deadline in the separate Tuccori settlement was October 27, 2026. Both have passed.
What changed about real estate commissions because of the lawsuit?
Since August 2024, sellers no longer advertise an offer to pay the buyer's agent through the MLS, and buyers sign a written agreement setting their agent's compensation before touring homes. Commissions are fully negotiable on both sides.