The NAR Settlement Survives Appeal: The New Rules Are Still the Rules

If you were waiting for the Eighth Circuit to hit Ctrl+Z on the NAR settlement, it did not.

On August 19, 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirmed the federal district court’s approval of the nationwide NAR settlement arising out of the Sitzer-Burnett commission litigation.

The Court summed up the result in two words that will make appellate lawyers proud of their billing efficiency:

“We affirm.”

For brokers and agents, the practical consequence is pretty simple: the settlement remains in place, and so do the practice changes the industry has spent the last two years learning to live with.

An important distinction: the Eighth Circuit did not affirm the 2023 jury verdict finding NAR and other defendants liable for antitrust violations.

Instead, the Court reviewed challenges to the district court’s approval of the settlement that followed the verdict.

That settlement was intended to resolve claims on a nationwide basis. NAR agreed to pay $418 million, other defendants and settling parties made additional payments, and the total settlement fund exceeded $1 billion. The settlement also imposed the practice changes that reshaped buyer representation and compensation throughout the industry.

Several objectors appealed the district court’s approval of that deal. The Eighth Circuit rejected their challenges and affirmed.

One of the more significant parts of the opinion is the Court’s treatment of the settlement’s broad release.

The settlement does not merely resolve the original Missouri seller claims. It broadly releases claims arising from the same underlying factual predicate, including claims involving sellers, buyers, NAR-affiliated MLSs, non-REALTOR® MLSs, and certain settling or opting-in brokerages.

Objectors argued that some of those claims were simply too different to be swept into one settlement.

The Eighth Circuit disagreed.

The Court concluded that the district court could find the various claims sufficiently connected by the underlying allegations concerning broker compensation practices. It also rejected the argument that expanding the settlement nationwide was legally improper.

That is a big deal because the broad release was a major component of what the settling defendants received in exchange for the settlement payments and practice changes.

For anyone wondering whether the plaintiffs’ lawyers were sweating the appeal, they can probably put away the antiperspirant.

The Court also affirmed the $333 million attorneys’ fee award, which represented one-third of the settlement fund.

The Eighth Circuit concluded that the percentage-of-the-fund approach used by the district court was appropriate and that a one-third award was consistent with other class-action fee awards within the circuit.

So, if your parents are still asking whether law school was worth it, there is apparently at least one exhibit for the “yes” column.

For most brokers and agents, this opinion does not require another round of operational changes.

Instead, it means the settlement-driven changes already in effect remain in effect.

Among the changes described by the Court are requirements involving written buyer agreements before touring homes, disclosure and agreement concerning buyer-broker compensation, restrictions against steering based on compensation, and disclosure that commissions are negotiable.

NAR also continues to prohibit offers of cooperative compensation from being communicated through REALTOR® MLSs.

In other words, if your brokerage updated its forms, policies, scripts, training, and procedures to comply with the settlement, do not start dragging those files to the recycle bin.

The new usual is still the usual.

The Eighth Circuit’s opinion is significant, but the immediate operational takeaway is refreshingly boring:

Keep complying with the rules already in place.

Use written buyer representation agreements when required. Clearly address compensation. Do not steer based on compensation. Treat commissions as negotiable. Follow your MLS’s rules regarding offers of compensation. And make sure your agents understand that these are not merely temporary practices everyone is following while waiting to see what happens on appeal.

A major appellate challenge has now been decided, and the settlement survived it.

For an industry that has endured approximately 47 years of legal developments compressed into the last three years, a little stability may not be such a bad thing.

If 35 pages of federal appellate analysis sounds like your idea of a relaxing evening, we respect your questionable life choices and you can download it by clicking the link below.