FDD Items 3 & 4 · 2026 filing

NextHome litigation history

What NextHome disclosed about lawsuits, arbitrations and bankruptcy in the 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document. Item 3 lists the material legal actions a franchisor must report; Item 4 covers bankruptcy. This is the franchisor's own disclosure, not a court record, and not legal advice.

Items 3 & 4 at a glance

What the filing discloses

Cases disclosed: 3; Item 3, as counted in the filing

Largest disclosed settlement: $600K; As stated in Item 3

Bankruptcy (Item 4): None; Franchisor, parent, predecessor or officer

Filing year: 2026; Disclosures cover the prior ten years

Item 3 · 3 matters disclosed · 1 pending listed

Litigation cases

The franchisor

Pending (1)

Alejandro Lopez, individually and on behalf of similarly situated individuals v. NextHome, Inc., Realty Executives Intl. Svcs. LLC, and Shorewest Realtors, Inc.; subsequently consolidated with James Tuccori, Courtney Foregger, Kevin Cwynar, Dawid Zawislak, Michael D'Acquisot, and Alejandro Lopez v.
pending
Third-party plaintiff · filed 2024-11-19 · United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division · 24-cv-11735; consolidated into 1:24-cv-00150
“On November 19, 2024, Alejandro Lopez (“Lopez”) filed a class action lawsuit against us and 2 other real estate brokerages (collectively, the “Lopez Defendants”). Lopez – who is a home seller who also seeks to represent a class consisting of all persons in the United States who purchased residential real estate listed on certain Multiple Listing Services during the applicable limitations period”Page 14 of the 2026 FDD, Item 3
Outcome:“Plaintiffs and most of the defendants (including us) entered into a unified written Class Settlement Agreement on October 10, 2025, which was preliminarily approved by the court on October 15, 2025. The cases were formally consolidated on October 22, 2025.”

Concluded (2)

Don Gibson, Lauren Criss, John Meiners, Daniel Umpa, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated v. National Association of Realtors, NextHome, Inc., et al.
settled
Third-party plaintiff · filed 2024-04-25 · United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri · 4:23-cv-00788-SRB
“On April 25, 2024, Don Gibson, Lauren Criss, John Meiners and Daniel Umpa (collectively, the “Gibson Plaintiffs”) filed a class action lawsuit against NAR, us, and several other real estate brokerages, real estate brokerage owners and real estate brokerage franchisors (collectively, the “Gibson Defendants”).”Page 13 of the 2026 FDD, Item 3
Outcome:“On September 30, 2024, we and the Gibson Plaintiffs entered into a settlement agreement under which we denied the Gibson Plaintiffs’ allegations and agreed to: (i) pay a total of $600,000 into a settlement fund;”
Realty World, Inc. v. NextHome, Inc. et al.
settled
Third-party plaintiff · filed 2016-10-06 · United States District Court for the Northern District of California · 4:16-cv-5761
“Realty World, Inc. v. NextHome, Inc. et al. (United States District Court for the Northern District of California, Case No. 4:16-cv-5761). RWNC became a master licensee of the Realty World brand in Northern California and portions of Nevada beginning in November 2001.”Page 11 of the 2026 FDD, Item 3
Outcome:“The Settlement Agreement also provided that, in exchange for a payment of $1,000 from RWI, we would assign our rights under the MLA and related franchise agreements to RWI effective February 1, 2020, assuming certain conditions were met.” (page 12)

Item 3 lists the litigation the franchisor must disclose; a matter against a parent, an affiliate or a named officer is not a matter against the franchisor, and pending claims are allegations, not findings.

Disclosure signals that moved the score

How this shows up in the verdict

Multiple ongoing and settled antitrust lawsuits targeting core business model (commission structure), indicating systemic legal/regulatory vulnerability
Trademark/domain litigation history (settled 2018) indicates past brand instability and IP management concerns

The verdict grade is FranchiseVerdict's editorial assessment across SBA loan performance, unit growth, revenue and disclosure signals. It is not investment advice.

Before you weigh a lawsuit

How to read Item 3

A franchisor must disclose pending actions and any material civil action involving the franchise relationship, plus convictions or civil judgments for fraud, unfair or deceptive practices, or franchise-law violations, going back ten years. A case the franchisor brought against a franchisee counts too. Item 3 does not include every dispute: settled claims below the materiality line and matters resolved in private arbitration can be absent.

Questions worth asking current and former franchisees, using the contact list in Item 20:

Were you, or anyone you know in the system, party to a dispute with the franchisor?
Was it resolved by settlement, arbitration or a court, and on what terms?
Has the number of disputes gone up or down since you signed?

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