Florida-based The Keyes Company and Illustrated Properties, which touts itself as the largest independent brokerage in the state, has reached an agreement to settle commission lawsuits filed by sellers, according to a filing in federal court today.
No details of the agreement were immediately released. A representative from the brokerage could not immediately be reached for comment.
Keyes/Illustrated Properties becomes the latest brokerage to strike an agreement in one of the many copycat lawsuits, after all the companies named in the first two commission class-actions (known as Moehrl and Burnett) eventually struck deals. The brokerage is also notable in that it was named in one of a smaller number of state-level commission lawsuits.
But the settlement Keyes/Illustrated properties negotiated was with lawyers representing plaintiffs in the largest copycat case, filed hours after the Burnett verdict by the same attorneys. That lawsuit initially added a handful of large franchisors as defendants, but in April named several big independents, including Keyes/Illustrated Properties.
The company is also only the third to have struck a nationwide settlement after the deadline for opting into the separate agreement struck by the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) passed in mid-June. United Real Estate and HomeSmart back in July.
Keyes/Illustrated Properties was not automatically included in the NAR settlement due to its size—companies with more than $2 billion in 2022 transaction volume had to pay an additional fee to join the NAR agreement.
This is a developing story. Stay turned to RISMedia for updates.
