Company: HOUS
Filing Date: 2025-02-25
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0001398987-25-000020
Chunk: 210

Company: Anywhere Real Estate Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-02-25
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1
Chunk 210
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 the operating margins of our company owned brokerages could continue to be adversely affected. Similarly, franchisees have and may continue to seek reduced royalty fee arrangements or other incentives from us to offset the continued business pressures on such franchisees, which would result in a reduction in royalty fees paid to us.

Competition and Industry Disruption. See Part I., "Item 1.—Business—Competition" of this Annual Report for a discussion of the current competitive environment, including with respect to competition for independent sales agents and franchisees as well as non-traditional competition and industry disruption.

Matters that Impact the Functioning of the U.S. Residential Brokerage Industry and our Business. As further described in Note 15, "Commitments and Contingencies" to the Consolidated Financial Statements, the final court approval of our nationwide settlement in the Burnett, Moehrl and Nosalek antitrust sell-side class action litigation (the "Anywhere Settlement") has been appealed, which delays our final payment of the remaining $53.5 million due under the Anywhere Settlement until 21 business days after all appellate rights are exhausted (we previously paid the first $30 million due), the timing of which is uncertain. We currently expect the payment to occur no earlier than mid-2025.

Industry changes that have recently been (or could in the near-term be) implemented by NAR, state or local realtor associations or MLSs will (or have the potential to) impact the entire industry, including our owned brokerages and those of our franchisees. Specifically, in 2024, NAR entered into a nationwide class action settlement (the "NAR Settlement"), which received final court approval in November 2024, although several objectors have since filed appeals of the final approval. Under the NAR Settlement, NAR agreed to certain practice changes including, but not limited to, prohibiting offers of compensation to buyer brokers from being made on listings on an MLS, requiring Realtors® representing a buyer to enter into a written agreement with a buyer, setting forth the buyer broker’s fee and obligations before showing the buyer a property, and prohibiting Realtors® from representing their services as free, or collecting greater compensation than set forth in the written agreement with the buyer. 

The NAR Settlement allowed for participation by non-NAR MLSs, but a number of those MLSs have elected not to participate in the NAR Settlement, and as such, they will continue to operate on their own rules regarding broker compensation and will not be restricted by the