WASHINGTON, March 25 (Reuters) - Major U.S. home real

estate brokerages Compass, eXp, Redfin and two

others must face a lawsuit by buyers accusing them of conspiring

to fix commissions and inflate home prices, a federal judge

ruled on Tuesday.

In her order, U.S. District Judge LaShonda Hunt in Chicago

allowed most of the claims brought by 32 homebuyers to proceed

against the brokerages, which also include Weichert Realtors,

and United Real Estate Group.

The plaintiffs, seeking to represent at least thousands of home

buyers in a class action, contend that sellers are inflating

home prices to offset the cost of commissions that the

defendants require buyers to pay their agents, driving up the

overall cost of buying a home.

Redfin in a statement said its goal is to save consumers in

real estate fees and "there is a complete disconnect between our

business model and the plaintiffs' senseless claims in this

case."

Compass, eXp, Weichert and United Real Estate did not

immediately respond to requests for comment. The companies have

denied any wrongdoing.

Lead attorneys for the buyers also did not immediately

respond to requests for comment.

Hunt found the plaintiffs had plausibly alleged the

companies were conspiring on commission requirements and were

not independently following industry rules.

She also dismissed or trimmed some antitrust claims under

the laws of Florida, Missouri, Tennessee and other states.

In February, U.S. real estate brokerage Keller Williams

agreed to pay $20 million to settle claims against it in the

lawsuit. Keller Williams, which markets itself as the largest

real estate franchise by agent count, also said it would

cooperate with the buyers.

The National Association of Realtors and some major brokerages

have been hit with separate antitrust lawsuits by home sellers

claiming damages in connection with commission fees. Many of

those cases have resulted in settlements totaling hundreds of

millions of dollars. The trade association denied any wrongdoing

in that settlement.

The case is Mya Batton et al v. Compass et al, U.S. District

Court for the Northern District of Illinois, No. 1:23-cv-15618.

For plaintiffs: George Zelcs and Randall Ewing Jr of Korein

Tillery, and Vincent Briganti of Lowey Dannenberg

For Compass: Chahira Solh and Sima Namiri-Kalantari of

Crowell & Moring

For eXp: James Morsch and Francis Riley III of Saul Ewing

For Redfin: Gerald Stein and Robert Maguire of Davis Wright

Tremaine

For Weichert: Dylan Ballard and Adam Hudes of Vinson &

Elkins

For United Real Estate: James Lawrence and Lindsay Sklar

Johnson of Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner

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