After Hours: UnReal Estate (From the Archives)

Summary

Full Measure After Hours – “UnReal Estate (From the Archives)”

Date: February 5, 2026
Host: Sharyl Attkisson
Featured Guest: Jared Bright (Plaintiff in class action lawsuit against NAR)

---

Overview of Episode

This episode discusses the aftermath and implications of a groundbreaking class action lawsuit against the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and several major real estate conglomerates—an event that's fundamentally disrupted the U.S. real estate commission system. Sharyl Attkisson and her guest, Jared Bright (a named plaintiff in the case), explore the opaque traditions of real estate commissions, how the lawsuit brought transparency and competition to the industry, and what both buyers and sellers need to know about their rights and opportunities in this new era.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Traditional System: Commissions and Lack of Transparency

• For decades, most Americans buying or selling a home navigated a system where the seller paid both agents’ (buyer and seller) commissions, typically set at 6% (3% for each agent), rarely challenged or negotiated ([00:00]).
• Buyers and sellers were often unaware that these fees were negotiable.
• Bright points out:

  “I think people would be surprised to know that that rate is negotiable… but I think 99% of homeowners out there… have never had the opportunity to negotiate that.” — Jared Bright [03:23]

2. The Lawsuit: Motivation and Impact

• The class action (commonly called the “NAR lawsuit”) targeted the enforced structure of commissions, lack of competition, and lack of transparency in real estate transactions ([01:35], [01:59]).
• Bright’s personal motivation stemmed from confusion and frustration after paying commission fees, including an incident where he thought he’d received a discount but in reality paid the full 6%, illustrating system-wide lack of clarity ([05:15]).
• The case also exposed potential antitrust issues and conflicts of interest, such as agents on both sides working for the same parent company ([08:57]).

3. Technology’s Disruption of the Status Quo

• The rising role of online platforms (e.g., Zillow) has allowed buyers to do their own legwork, causing many to question why they pay as much for an agent who may be less involved ([04:02], [05:00]).
• “It would be surprising for people to hear that there's a large percentage of buyers who are buying their home based on their search on an app.” — Jared Bright [04:02]

4. Notable Moments from the Lawsuit and Trial

• During trial preparation, Bright learned he had, in fact, paid a full 6% commission instead of the 5.5% “law enforcement discount” he believed he received—a moment of personal revelation and a prime example of the system’s opacity ([11:17]).
• During testimony, Bright admitted, “‘I feel stupid,’ I said that on the stand. And that's when one of the jurors gasped. And I think it was just a realization that could happen to anybody.” — Jared Bright [12:37]

5. Changes After the Lawsuit

• The system now requires clear, upfront paperwork where commission amounts must be specified and agreed upon at the outset, creating real opportunities for negotiation ([16:14]).
• The default 6% (3% + 3%) is no longer the industry “standard.” Services can be unbundled—agents may now offer tiered packages tailored to how much work they do and what the seller or buyer needs ([16:14]-[18:45]).

6. Advice for Consumers in the New System

• Buyers and sellers should actively negotiate agent fees and ask specifically, “What do I get for X percent?” ([19:10])
• Read every contract before signing, rather than simply “DocuSigning” out of habit ([20:08]).
• Consumers should consider alternatives, such as flat-fee MLS listing services.
• “My advice certainly is to have the conversation. My second piece of advice: read it. Read the contract before you sign it and don’t be like me and just docusign a closing statement because you’ll probably miss something.” — Jared Bright [20:08]

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Negligence and Responsibility:

  “If I can’t trust my real estate agent to do the paperwork properly, then where’s my negotiation aspect?” — Jared Bright [06:55]

• On Systemic Issues:

  “There isn’t or hasn’t been competition in the past. And a great example would be where your agent works for the same parent company that the buyer’s agent works for. And so are we really being competitive?” — Jared Bright [08:57]

• On the Commission’s Real Impact:

  “At 6% commission. 3 and 3 would be $18,000... So when you’re talking about paying a half percent more than you thought, that can be thousands of dollars.” — Sharyl Attkisson [14:32]

• Reflection on the Verdict:

  “When the verdict was read, we knew right away. It was found in favor of the plaintiff class, and an award amount was read right then.” — Jared Bright [15:51]

• On Services and Value:

  “If we're running a business and saying, okay, if I'll charge 1%, here’s the services. At 2%, here are the services, 3%, here are the services… I think we as consumers have to shop around.” — Jared Bright [16:14]

---

Important Timestamps

• 00:00 — 01:35: Introduction to the episode and the real estate lawsuit
• 01:35 — 04:01: Bright introduces himself and explains how most Americans misunderstand agent commissions
• 05:00 — 07:37: How home listing technology began to disrupt Realtor value
• 08:57 — 11:13: Ethical issues of transparency, competition, and agent conflicts
• 11:13 — 12:37: Pivotal trial moment—discovering the real commission paid
• 14:28 — 15:40: Calculating the true cost of commissions using typical home values
• 16:14 — 18:45: System changes after the lawsuit—negotiation and tiered services emerge
• 19:10 — 22:50: Practical advice for buyers and sellers in the new landscape

---

Practical Takeaways

• Always negotiate commission rates with your agent—don't simply accept what's presented.
• Ask for transparency about what specific services you will receive for your fee.
• Consider alternatives such as listing services for a flat fee.
• Diligently read all paperwork before you sign, especially in increasingly digital real estate transactions.

---

Tone & Final Thoughts

The episode balances consumer empowerment with a critical look at industry norms, highlighting both Bright’s personal journey and systemic issues in real estate. Atkisson’s and Bright’s tone is candid, revealing, and encourages listeners to be more proactive and informed during one of life’s most significant transactions.

---

For further details and perspectives, viewers are invited to watch the Full Measure TV episode aired on October 19th, or catch up on FullMeasure.News.

Transcript

[A]

Foreign. Hi, everybody, it's Cheryl Akisson. Welcome to another edition of Full Measure After Hours. Today we break down the impact of a landmark lawsuit that's upended real estate sales and how you pay commission. For decades, buying or selling a home in the United States has meant navigating a maze of real estate agents, commissions and unspoken rules. With most American consumers unaware that the seller paid for everyone's agent or that those fees paid for the real estate were negotiable. A landmark class action lawsuit that you may not have heard about will impact you if you buy or sell a house. Now, the suit was filed against the national association of Realtors. It has upended the whole system, exposing conflicts of interest and sparking what some call a fairer, more transparent market, while others, including some Realtors, decry it all as a confusing mess. As new rules reshape how homes are bought and sold, both buyers and sellers are now grappling with a process that is theoretically clearer but possibly murkier in practice. That's the topic of my cover story on Sunday, October 19th. And today you're going to hear from a plaintiff, a homeowner, and in the critical lawsuit that changed everything. His name is Jared Bright.

[B]

I was a named plaintiff in the Realtors lawsuit against the national association of Realtors as well as the major conglomerates of real estate companies. And currently I work for Mothers Against Drunk Driving as a regional executive director in the Midwest, what we call the heartland America.

[A]

Is that lawsuit referred to as something commonly like a shorthand.

[B]

The actual title is Stites or Burnett, sorry, Seitzer Burnett. But we call it the NAR lawsuit. Why the national association of Realtors.

[A]

Okay, let's start by is there something that gets at the heart of this that you can say most people don't know that they would be surprised to learn about real estate? Sure.

[B]

First, not surprising, I didn't know anything about real estate. I don't know a lot about real estate from a practical standpoint, but I do know what it feels like to sell a home and buy a home and deal with the 6%, that magical number that has been around since my grandparents and probably before the fee that the Realtor split the fee that the Realtor split and guarantee that split as a part of the home purchase.

[A]

People would be surprised to know what.

[B]

I think people would be surprised to know that the rate is negotiable, 3% and 3% is negotiable. Whether you're a buyer or a seller in this case, really drives home the opportunity for buyers and sellers to base that percentage off the value they get from the real estate agent they're working with.

[A]

Before we dig in, Realtors have told me and will say it's always been negotiable. Everybody knows that.

[B]

Yeah, it hasn't. It's one of those things where it might have been kind of this sense of we're okay if we say, you know, it's. It was always negotiable. But I think 99% of homeowners out there, roughly have never had the opportunity to negotiate that. I talked to so many people who. The 6%, 3% and 3% is all they've ever had when buying and selling a home. And, you know, it's interesting, but there are real estate professionals out there that have openly said, you can negotiate up but don't negotiate down.

[A]

Who would want to negotiate?

[B]

Who would want to negotiate that? And you know, I think at the end of the day, technology is improving and so it'd be surprise if it would be surprising for people to hear that there's a large percentage of buyers who are buying their home based on their search on an app.

[A]

What's wrong with the three, three perceived non negotiable fees that go to Realtors if people have been happy with that all these years?

[B]

Yeah, I think people haven't been happy about that. It's one of those things where it's painful, but you have to do it. That's the way it is, the way it's always been done. And so, you know, as Americans, we're not looking at other countries where it's completely different than the way that our real estate transactions are handled here. And so I think in my opinion, people are. Sorry, I lost track.

[A]

Do you think change came with the advent of the Internet and services like Zillow where people could do their own legwork? And did they start wondering why they're paying their Realtor as much as maybe they used to pay when the realtor did more of the work?

[B]

I know I did. And when I sold my home in St. Louis, which was a huge part of this case, you know, I just remember saying, why am I paying someone who I've Never met before 3%? No one, no, no one from the buyer's side ever did anything for me. Sure, they brought a person to look at my house, but that's the point of real estate. And so it was really interesting post sale. I was, I was confused. I was, you know, it's the first time I sold a home and I really wondered, where's the fairness in paying 3% and 3%. And it happened to be that my real estate agent at the time was giving me a law enforcement discount, five and a half percent. And it wasn't until trial a decade later that we actually realized when looking at the paperwork, he actually charged me 6%. And it wasn't because of what he wanted. There was this system that pushes out these papers and documents without really looking at them, because it's just always been 3% and 3%. And so changing one of those percentages was out of the norm. And so I completed my transaction and ended up paying 6%, even though I was getting a law enforcement discount, which I was super appreciative of. But that just goes to show the transparency aspect of the outcome of this verdict, and that is that we don't know what we're signing as consumers.

[A]

Isn't that our fault?

[B]

It is our fault, but I think this draws attention to the fact that we should. But we should also trust that the value we're getting from our real estate agents is what we want. And so part of that value is the paperwork. So when the paperwork is done, if I can't trust my real estate agent to do the paperwork properly, then where's my negotiation aspect? If you show me one house and I show you 30 based on what I got off an app, is that really worth 3%? You know, so I. It is. There's a couple of different things in there about. But yeah.

[A]

How did the lawsuit come about?

[B]

After I sold my home in St. Louis, I was talking to a friend who had entered this lawsuit as a. As. As a. As a plaintiff. And I was super intrigued. You know, right away, I was interested at the fairness issue. I didn't know any of the other stuff that came with this lawsuit about antitrust violations, transparency, you know, commission, cooperative commissions. I didn't know any of that. I just knew. I was questioning why I was paying someone 3%, who'd never gotten. I never met, never did anything for me. And so I reached out to the law firm, and the firm and I worked together with other plaintiffs, named plaintiffs, and of course, a larger group. But it kind of started from curiosity. And part of that is just selling my first home and wondering why it was not what I kind of felt like it should have felt.

[A]

What are some of the ethical issues that you think are raised by the system the way it was? If you can just give maybe a couple of them and clear explanation or shorthand, Sure.

[B]

I think there should be competition. And part of this case is pointing out that there isn't or hasn't been competition in the past. And a great example would be where your agent works for the same parent company that the buyer's agent works for. And so are we really being competitive? And am I getting the best deal from my agent that I should be, and. And vice versa for the buyer or seller? And it's one of those things where it's, you know, when we talk about ethics, not not only transparency, but do we know where our money is going? And a lot of the times, if you're a seller, you don't know where your money is going. You just. It's a name on a piece of paper if you decide to read it. At the end of the day, I think competition brings value to the consumer. And so for me, I'll always be looking for, what can my real estate agent bring to the table that going next door to another company can't? And if I can't get that from this agent, I should go to the next agent and I should ask about, you know, here's what I'm looking for. I don't want to pay 3%, but I'm not going to make you look at 62 houses, right. If I pay 1 1/2% and I find the home, would you be willing to do the paperwork? You know, now you can go and see a home or rent an apartment without a person with you. You get a code for a lockbox. You go in, you look at the house or the apartment, you lock the key up when you leave. And so there's that aspect now that technology is really filled. We just haven't had before and really needed a person to be responsible for showing you those homes or apartments. You just don't need that anymore. And I think when we talk about ethics, transparency, negotiation, competitiveness, those are three big things that no one knew we could do or that we should know. And I think this case has really not only showed real estate agents that the times are changing to an industry that has never changed. Never changed.

[A]

What are some of the remarkable moments? One or two from the trial.

[B]

You know, the jurors had been there for a while and, you know, watching them and talking to them, you know, it was really interesting when we, the night before the trial, we discovered, looking through the paperwork, that I actually did pay 6% and not 5 and a half like I'd always thought. Shame on me. Sure. But it goes to show that if you don't actually look at what you are signing, number for number, that it could be wrong. And that came from a system that was so easily pushing out paperwork that was all the same three and three. And we talked about this and I was asked by Michael Catchmark on the stand, who's that? Michael Catch Mark is the trial attorney on your side? Yes, on our side, the plaintiff's side. And brilliant, brilliant guy. But he's the one who found it the night before and called me at midnight and was like, hey, did you really pay six or five and a half percent? And I said yes. And he screenshot and sent me the, the actual detail and it wasn't. And I there was notable because one of the jurors gasped in surprise.

[A]

So how did that play out? So you knew the night before, so on, on the stand, what did he say and what did you say?

[B]

Yeah, one of the things Michael asked was what did you pay for your home? I answered, and then he said, what percentage did you give the sellers and the buyers? And I said 3%. And 3% is normal, but I got the law enforcement discount and so I only paid five and a half percent. And Michael Catch Mark said, well, you remember last night I came to you and said, I don't think you paid five and a half percent, I think you paid six. I said yes. And he says how do you feel about that? And I said stupid, I feel stupid. And I said that on the stand. And that's when, when one of the jurors gasped. And I think it was just a realization that could happen to anybody. You know, if you're, if you're not a real estate agent, you don't know real estate. If you don't deal or trade or buy and sell all the time, which most Americans don't, you don't know what should be happening. And part of this case is really drawn out, the transparency issue. And a lot of that comes from value. What's being offered to me and what am I paying for. And we talked about that during the trial. I didn't get a lot of interesting questions from the lawyers of the other companies, including the national association of Realtors. They were pretty standard questions. Whereas we were really making the point that, you know, I'm just a former police officer who now works for a non profit and I sold a home and it wasn't fair. How can we make that better?

[A]

Do you have any idea what the average price of a house is today? A few hundred thousand dollars.

[B]

I, I think it's around 350.

[A]

So if, let's say 300,000 for the sake of simple math, at 6% commission. 3 and 3 would be $18,000.

[B]

Correct.

[A]

So when you're talking about paying a half percent more than you thought, that can be thousands of dollars.

[B]

It's real money. And you know, to me at the time, on a public servant salary, at the time, you know, it was a lot of money. And, and that is what drew kind of my attention to what am I at? Why am I paying this or what am I paying for? And I think a lot of people understand that that's just the way it is. If you want to get your home in the past, if you want to get your home listed on the mls, then the Realtors that you're working with have to agree to, to 3% and 3%.

[A]

What was the lawsuit asking for? They wanted the commission issue fixed and more transparency and antitrust. Competition, competition.

[B]

So competition commission and transparency.

[A]

So I don't know how the verdict was read, but did they, was it complicated, like 20 different subsets? Or could you tell right away that you guys won your case?

[B]

When the verdict was read, we knew right away it was found in favor of the plaintiff class and an award amount was read right then.

[A]

So in simple terms, if you can, what has changed in the real estate industry as a result of the lawsuit?

[B]

So now because of the competition and the negotiation, there's some up, upfront paperwork that, that you're agreeing to a certain price, a certain commission, and that's our opportunity to negotiate these commissions. And that's where you have to have an upfront conversation with your real estate agent and say, what, what are you giving me? What am I going to get out of this other than ultimately buying a home, which is the end goal. And those conversations have already started. I know folks who are talking to their agents about, you know, hey, I, I'll do all the work. At the end of the day, I only want to pay 2%. And so that negotiation of okay, well here's what you'll get for 2%. And honestly, I think it opened a door for real estate agents that are out there that are starting their own business or coming up in the business to adapt. I think we live in a subscription based world and you know, if I'm no expert, but if we're running a business and saying, okay, if I'll charge 1%, here's the services at 2%, here are the services, 3%, here are the sources at 5%, here are the services. And I think that we as consumers have to shop around, but if everybody does the same thing as a service they provide where then it's not a competition amongst companies. And these large conglomerates are basically fixing the competitive nature of real estate. And that's what this case showed. And you know, look, I think if you're a young real estate agent today and you want to say, I want to sell as many homes as I can in one year, then you have to look at okay, for 1%. I only have to talk to this person one time at the beginning and one time at the end. If 2% says I need to show them five homes that aren't on Zillow that they find and send to me, then that's what I'm going to do. And so I think, you know, and of course that goes up with, you know, the price of the home, that goes up with the services that are out there, but it no longer ties the MLS to a fixed percentage rate that we know has always been that way.

[A]

What is your advice to people sort of as a takeaway, someone buying or selling a home? And I want to mention that you're talking about negotiating with the person who would be selling your home. I don't know if you have any power to then say, and I don't want to pay the other guy that much. So can you give the simplest and best advice that you can for somebody who might be putting their house on the market or buying one?

[B]

I think first and foremost, more than ever before now is the opportunity for folks to actually have a conversation. I've been disappointed. I know there are a lot of Americans that are out there that have been disappointed by a real estate agent. And then we all have the other story where they were amazing and they did absolutely everything that we needed now, not just that we wanted. And there are a lot of examples of that. But my advice to people now would be flat out say, what? What do I get for x percent? You know, I sold my home in Indianapolis by listing it myself, but I still had to go through an online service and agree to pay 1% to get it on the MLS. And I sold the home. So I paid 4% total instead of 6% total.

[A]

So the buyer's agent, 3% and 1% to get it listed on the multi listing service.

[B]

Correct, Correct. And you know, to me, the seller, that's exactly what I needed. I didn't need to talk to a seller's agent who was checking in every day and who was being there every day that the house was show was shown. I didn't need that. And so it was really interesting that I could do that with an online service with someone who I'll never meet. You know, just answers, emails and updates my portal when, when reservations to see the place came up and, and so people have to understand that there are alternatives to real estate agents. And so if age, if I'm working with a real estate agent I want them to also see the value in me as a customer and so being transparent about what our needs are and also transparent from the other side about what value they're bringing to the table. We've never had those conversations before. I think most people would tell you that that's foreign to them. So my advice certainly is to have the conversation. My second piece of advice, read it. Read the contract before you sign it in the beginning and don't be like me and just docusign a closing statement because you'll probably miss something and no one is perfect. And so I think in a changing environment like real estate is today, I think we have to have a responsibility ourselves and really pay attention to what's being presented to us. It was so easy to just click the docusign and my pre made signature fills the line and it's done. I hit send and it's over. Well, I lost out there and I don't want to see anybody else lose out. I also want to see real estate agents thrive and I think as any industry that it's going through a change. A more fair, a more transparent but also more opportunities. There are a lot of studies that show that next year satisfaction of looking ahead and being optimistic amongst real estate agents is huge. And so I hope that they're out there grinding away. But I think they also have to start to think about the value they provide to each individual customer and not just a blanket percentage for everyone foreign.

[A]

For more on this story and to hear different sides and different views, watch Full Measure on Sunday, October 19th. For a list of stations and times, go to cheryl Atkison.com and click the Full Measure tab. If you happen to be listening to this after October 19th, no worries. You can always watch a replay at Fullmeasure News Online or on our unadvertised YouTube channel. For full Measure with Cheryl Akeson, it's a good time, if you haven't done so already, to check out my latest national bestseller, follow the How Big Pharma Misleads, Obscures and Prevails. Not only does this contain a wealth of information, behind the scenes investigations and all kinds of material that will explain our corrupt medical establishment and what you can do about it, but also proceeds from book sales support independent reporting causes. The same is true at the Cheryl Atkison store. Go to Cheryl Atkison.com click the store tab for some exciting products designed exclusively for independent thinkers like you, with slogans like I need to find some new conspiracy theories. All my old ones came true. And do your own research, make up your own mind, think for yourself.