Florida-based The Keyes Company/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. That suit is currently paused pending a final hearing on the NAR settlement agreement in late November.
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 forged their own settlements 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.
