Two years after the practice changes, the settlement still sets the coordinator's paperwork

Written buyer agreements became mandatory on 17 August 2024. The forms work that created is now routine, and there is nothing in the record to suggest it is going back.

Key points

NAR agreed a $418 million settlement on 15 March 2024 in the Sitzer/Burnett litigation.

The practice changes took effect on 17 August 2024.

The settlement received final court approval on 26 November 2024.

The $418 million is payable over four years, per HousingWire's reporting.

The operational effect for coordinators is a written buyer agreement on the front of every buy-side file.

For coordinators, the settlement was never really about the money. It was about a document appearing at the front of every buy-side file, and about compensation moving out of the places it used to live and into places that have to be papered.

The sequence is worth keeping straight, because it is frequently reported out of order. The National Association of REALTORS agreed the settlement on 15 March 2024 in the Sitzer/Burnett litigation, at $418 million payable over four years according to HousingWire's reporting. The practice changes took effect on 17 August 2024. Final court approval followed on 26 November 2024, after the changes were already in force.

How it landed

15 March 2024: NAR agrees a $418 million settlement in the Sitzer/Burnett litigation, payable over four years.

17 August 2024: Practice changes take effect, including the requirement for a written buyer agreement before touring.

26 November 2024: The settlement receives final court approval.

What actually changed at the desk

The checklist gained a gate. A buy-side file now opens with an executed buyer representation agreement, and the coordinator is generally the person who notices it is missing. Compensation terms that were previously carried in an MLS field are now carried in documents, which means they have to be collected, matched against the contract and retained.

The second-order effect is version control. Associations reissued forms, brokerages layered their own addenda, and coordinators working across multiple brokerages ended up maintaining several parallel form sets. Two years on, that is still the quiet cost.

What to watch next

The live questions have moved from the settlement itself to MLS rulemaking around cooperation and marketing, where NAR's newsroom and facts.realtor remain the primary record, and to how individual state associations version their forms. Inman and HousingWire carry the reporting; the association sites carry the documents.

Primary sources for this story

NAR newsroom

NAR settlement facts Practice change reference material

HousingWire Reporting on the four-year payment schedule

Sources cited

NAR newsroom

facts.realtor

HousingWire