Weichert has reached a settlement in the case known as Hooper, according to new court documents. The EXp settlement in that case resulted in a reversal for the plaintiffs in the other case.
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A month after eXp Realty used the now-disputed method to reach a commission settlement, new court documents show Weichert used a similar method to settle it.
The documents state that Weichert Real Estate Affiliates reached its settlement agreement on Nov. 5 in the case known as Hooper. However, the documents were filed in a separate and better known case of Gibson. The documents were filed in that separate case because Weichert is asking the Gibson judge to “stay,” or put on hold, the company’s part of that case while the Hooper settlement is pending.
The documents do not say how much Weichert may have agreed to pay. Inman has reached out to the company and will update this story with any response it provides.
The payout is notable because it follows the eXp playbook. In the eXp case, the company announced a $34 million settlement with Hooper’s plaintiffs in early October. However, a few weeks later the plaintiffs in the Gibson case criticized the settlement as too small. They say the virtual brokerage settled the Hooper suit to get a better deal than they would have gotten by settling the Gibson case.
Gibson plaintiffs want to force the company to return to the negotiating table in their lawsuit.
At issue is a practice known as a “reverse auction,” which amounts to a defendant shopping around among similar class actions to obtain the most favorable settlement terms. Once one suit is settled, it often settles other copycat suits. In this case, that means that eXp or Weichert settling Hooper’s lawsuit will also settle Gibson — even if Gibson’s plaintiffs aren’t happy with the terms of the settlement.
Meanwhile, eXp this week countered criticism of its deal. The company argued that its settlement amount was too small, but also said there was no law preventing it from settling with Hooper instead of Gibson.
The battle to solve eXp’s problems continues, and it remains to be seen whether more companies will take the same approach to cover their commission cases.
Read the new docs about Weichert’s fix here (if the docs don’t appear, refresh the page):
Email Jim Dalrymple II
