Major brokers deny dismissals in Batton 1 commission lawsuit
The taste of victory was short-lived , and . After Batton successfully obtained 1 home buyer in October, three national brokers were unsuccessful in their motions to dismiss as a result of receiving final approval of the defendants' home seller commission claim settlements.
In early October, U.S. District Court Judge LaShonda Hunt in Chicago — who took over from Judge Andrea Wood in early September to oversee the two Button lawsuits — granted the defendants' motions to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction under counsel. But at a court hearing on Friday, he rejected the pleas.
According to Hunt's ruling, “under long-standing precedent, due process allows for the exercise of personal jurisdiction to the extent that defendants have sufficient “minimum connections'' to the state of Illinois that maintaining the action “does not violate traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice.'' . ,'” and that personal jurisdiction “may be general if the defendant has a “continuing and systematic general business relationship'' in the forum state. or specifically, 'where (1) the defendant purposefully directed its activities to the forum state or purposefully exercised the privilege of doing business in that state, and (2) the alleged harm arises from the defendant's forum-related activities.' “
Hunt noted that the three defendants filed preliminary motions to dismiss the lawsuit in April 2021, but – filed a motion to dismiss on the grounds of personal jurisdiction in February 2024. In addition, the judge noted that after HomeServices was dismissed, other defendants chose this strategy.
“At no time did the Moving Defendants seek to amend their motions to dismiss to add personal jurisdiction defenses, to join the HomeServices Defendants' motion, or to otherwise assert or preserve the defenses, despite notice that the HomeServices Defendants had asserted the defense at least to date. September 2022,” Hunt wrote.
Because the three defendants did not include this argument in their original motions to dismiss, Hunt felt the court did not need to “consider whether Plaintiffs have met their burden to establish personal jurisdiction over the Transferred Defendant.”
Defendants filed motions to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction in April 2024. The brokers argued that because the firms were not headquartered or incorporated in Illinois, the plaintiffs and the court lacked personal jurisdiction. Additionally, they noted that none of the plaintiffs purchased a home in Illinois.
The (NAR) is the final defendant in the Batton 1 lawsuit filed in January 2021.
In Batton 2, the plaintiffs moved to file an amended complaint. They want to add 25 new class representatives and drop four state law claims from the suit. You plaintiffs argue that the removal of the state law claims is not “frivolous” and that the new plaintiffs “are asserting the same claims as those already asserted by Plaintiffs and which have been granted by this Court.”
Additionally, they note that the introduction of new plaintiffs “would not cause undue prejudice or delay because Defendants have not yet filed any discovery requests and the Court has not yet entered into any discovery schedules.”
Among the defendants in the Batton 2 suit , Weichert Realtors and United Real Estate. and Although they were named as defendants when the lawsuit was originally filed, they have since.
Each of the remaining defendants in Batton 2 expects Hunt to receive counsel.
