Compass Faces $517 Million Risk From Realtors’ Legal Settlement

  • Firms that opt into settlement could end up paying millions
  • Realtors’ trade group has proposed an agreement for lawsuits
Close-up of a Compass Real Estate hanging sign panel in a wooded area, Lafayette, California.

Photographer: Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images

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The National Association of Realtors’ $418 million deal to settle antitrust litigation is looking increasingly expensive for some major US brokerages.

Buried in the more than 100-page agreement is a formula that says brokerages that haven’t already settled with the plaintiffs will need to pay 0.25% of their average annual transaction volume — a potentially huge amount for firms such as Compass Inc.