Burnett v. NAR: Lawsuit To Bring Change To Home Sales Began Monday

Posted October 17, 2023

Burnett v. National Association of Realtors, a class-action lawsuit with the potential to bring change to home buyer benefits went to trial Monday in a federal courtroom in Kansas City, Missouri.

A group of Missouri home sellers brought the Burnett v. NAR suit headed to U.S. District Court in Kansas City, arguing the process by which residences are sold is anti-competitive because it requires sellers to list their properties on an MLS, while agreeing to a predetermined commission, typically 6 percent split evenly between seller and buyer brokers, with few realistic options to reduce the amount of those fees, CoStar News Ryan Ori reported.

The NAR says it could become a “Wild West” of decentralized property listings should it lose.

Another larger suit involving NAR is expected to go to trial in Chicago next year.