Muhammad’s lawsuit against NAR and local realtor associations was dismissed with prejudice by a U.S. District Court in Pennsylvania, leaving appeal as the plaintiff’s only procedural remedy. The suit, filed in October 2024 by Maurice Muhammad, alleged violations of federal civil rights statutes, discriminatory practices, breach of contract, creation of a monopolistic system, and federal antitrust violations. Muhammad represented himself pro se. Judge Joseph F. Leeson concluded the complaint contained only bare, conclusory allegations of price fixing or steering and did not plausibly allege that limiting MLS access to Realtor members imposed an unreasonable restraint on trade. NAR said it believes the dismissal was correct and will pursue the matter on appeal.
Muhammad's suit was dismissed with prejudice earlier this. month by a U.S. District Court judge in Pennsylvania. Because the suit was dismissed with prejudice, the plaintiff's only option to have his claims heard again is through an appeal. The suit was initially filed in October 2024 by Maurice Muhammad, a broker at Progressive Realty. He claims that NAR, the Pennsylvania Association of Realtors, Greater Lehigh Valley Realtors and association executives have violated federal civil rights statutes, engaged in unlawful discriminatory practices and breached their contracts.
In his ruling granting the defendants' motion to dismiss, Judge Joseph F. Leeson wrote that Muhammad has only made bare and conclusory allegations that the defendants had engaged in price fixing or steering. Additionally, Leeson did not find that Muhammad had sufficiently alleged that restricting MLS access to Realtor members imposed an unreasonable restraint on trade. In an emailed statement, a NAR spokesperson wrote that the trade group believes the court was correct in dismissing the suit.
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