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Hagens Berman eyes class action over MRED-Compass private listing deal
By Real Estate Wire Staff, . Real Estate Wire.
Hagens Berman is investigating a potential class action on behalf of Chicagoland homebuyers, according to Real Estate News, targeting the partnership between Midwest Real Estate Data and Compass that expanded access to MRED's private listing network on April 24. The firm's website, as cited by Real Estate News, alleges a "twofold" harm: most buyers are excluded from privately listed homes entirely, and listings that do reach the open market lack data such as days on market that buyers need to judge whether a price is fair. Without it, the firm argues, "buyers can't tell an overpriced listing from a fairly priced one."
The April 24 date is significant because it marks when MRED opened its private network to all licensed agents nationwide, with Compass signing on as the first brokerage. Hagens Berman is seeking buyers who purchased after that date, framing the cutoff as the moment an alleged monopoly took effect.
The practical implication is worth stating plainly: if a class is certified and the theory holds, the damages pool could be substantial given the volume of transactions in the Chicago metro. Whether the monopoly claim survives a motion to dismiss is a different question. Private listing networks have faced scrutiny nationally, but a court finding that one MLS-brokerage arrangement constitutes an actionable monopoly would be a significant step beyond anything settled so far in the commissions litigation.
On the Tuccori front, Real Estate News reported that attorneys in Tuccori and the related Batton case have not agreed on how to split fees from Tuccori's roughly $120 million settlement fund. Both sets of counsel have requested approximately one-third of the fund. The Tuccori attorneys must file an opposition brief by September 24, with a reply due October 1. Two new objectors also surfaced on September 17: class member Tom Wheeler called the settlement "procedurally improper," and Batton class member Aaron Bolton alleged the opt-in settlements amount to a "classic reverse auction" in which defendants sought the lowest possible payout. The reverse-auction allegation is not new to this litigation, Real Estate News noted, but the Batton plaintiffs have so far been unable to block the opt-in deals.
Meanwhile, objector Robert Friedman renewed his rehearing request at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit on September 15, according to Real Estate News. Friedman, who originally sued the Real Estate Board of New York in 2024, argues his case is distinct from Sitzer/Burnett and Gibson and should not be swept into those settlements. A three-judge panel had already voted to uphold the Gibson settlements; Friedman's latest filing added a warning that the ruling could itself encourage more reverse auctions and turn the appeals court into what he called a "hotbed of overbroad class action releases."
Taken together, these three threads point to a litigation environment that is far from settling down. The fee dispute in Tuccori is a procedural skirmish, but one that signals ongoing tension between plaintiff counsel in overlapping cases. The Friedman rehearing request is a long shot after a panel ruling, but the reverse-auction argument he is pressing is the same one Bolton raised in Tuccori this week, suggesting it may gain traction as a broader critique of how these settlements have been structured. The MRED-Compass investigation is the most consequential unknown: it is early-stage, no complaint has been filed, and the theory has not been tested in court. But Hagens Berman's involvement alone signals this will not be a quiet dispute.
Source: https://www.realestatenews.com/2026/09/18/law-firm-tees-up-class-action-linked-to-mred-compass-deal