| Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Text Block] | COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES Litigation The Company is involved in claims, legal proceedings, alternative dispute resolution and governmental inquiries or regulatory actions related to alleged business practices, intellectual property matters, commercial, employment, regulatory and tax matters and contract disputes, including the matters described below. The Company believes that it has adequately accrued for legal matters as appropriate. The Company records litigation accruals for legal matters when it is both probable that a liability will be incurred, and the amount of the loss can be reasonably estimated. Where the reasonable estimate of the probable loss is a range, the Company records as an accrual in its financial statements the most likely estimate of the loss, or the low end of the range if there is no one best estimate. For other litigation for which a loss is reasonably possible, the Company is unable to estimate a range of reasonably possible losses. Litigation and other disputes are inherently unpredictable and subject to substantial uncertainties and unfavorable developments and resolutions could occur and even cases brought by us can involve counterclaims asserted against us. In addition, litigation and other legal matters, including class action lawsuits, multi-party litigation and regulatory proceedings challenging practices that have broad impact, can be costly to defend and, depending on the class size and claims, could be costly to settle. Insurance coverage may be unavailable for certain types of claims (including antitrust and Telephone Consumer Protection Act ("TCPA") litigation) and even where available, insurance carriers may dispute coverage for various reasons, including the cost of defense, there is a deductible for each such case, and such insurance may not be sufficient to cover the losses the Company incurs. From time to time, even if the Company believes it has substantial defenses, it may consider litigation settlements based on a variety of circumstances. Due to the foregoing factors as well as the factors set forth below, the Company could incur charges or judgments or enter into settlements of claims, based upon future events or developments, with liabilities that are materially in excess of amounts accrued and these judgments or settlements could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s financial condition, results of operations or cash flows in any particular period. As such, an increase in accruals for one or more of these matters in any reporting period may have a material adverse effect on the Company's results of operations and cash flows for that period. The below captioned matters address certain current litigation involving the Company, including antitrust litigation, litigation related to the TCPA, and worker classification litigation. The captioned matters described herein involve evolving, complex litigation and the Company assesses its accruals on an ongoing basis taking into account the procedural stage and developments in the litigation. The Company disputes the allegations against it in each of these matters, believes it has substantial defenses against plaintiffs' claims and is vigorously defending these actions (though the courts have stayed its defense in the Burnett and Moehrl cases as part of the recent settlement of those cases described below). All of these matters are presented as currently captioned, but as noted elsewhere in this Quarterly Report, Realogy Holdings Corp. has been renamed Anywhere Real Estate Inc. Antitrust Litigation The cases included under this header, Antitrust Litigation, are class actions that challenge residential real estate industry rules and practices for payment of buyer-broker commissions and certain alleged associated practices. The issues raised by these cases are pending in multiple jurisdictions, are at various stages of litigation, claim to cover lengthy periods, involve different assertions with respect to liability and damages, include federal and certain state law claims, involve numerous and differing parties, and—given that antitrust laws generally provide for joint and several liability and treble damages—could result in a broad range of outcomes, making it difficult to predict possible damages or how legal, factual and damages issues will be resolved. Although the Company has settled certain of these cases (but such cases remain ongoing for non-settling defendants), because these cases are in various stages and will involve injunctive relief yet to be determined by the relevant courts (including against the industry trade association), we may be impacted by broader changes to industry practices and rules. In addition, the Company believes that additional antitrust litigation may be possible, including an additional purported class action recently filed against NAR and other competitors who were not parties to any of the prior antitrust class action litigation. Burnett, Hendrickson, Breit, Trupiano, and Keel v. The National Association of Realtors, Realogy Holdings Corp., Homeservices of America, Inc., BHH Affiliates LLC, HSF Affiliates, LLC, RE/MAX LLC, and Keller Williams Realty, Inc. (U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri). This is a now-certified class action complaint, which was filed on April 29, 2019 and amended on June 21, 2019, June 30, 2021 and May 6, 2022 and tried with a jury verdict on October 31, 2023 (formerly captioned as Sitzer ). The plaintiffs allege that the defendants engaged in a continuing contract, combination, or conspiracy to unreasonably restrain trade and commerce in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act because defendant NAR allegedly established mandatory anticompetitive policies and rules for the multiple listing services and its member brokers that require listing brokers to make an offer of buyer-broker compensation when listing a property. The plaintiffs' experts argue that "but for" the challenged NAR policies and rules, these offers of buyer-broker compensation would not be made and plaintiffs seek the recovery of full commissions paid to buyers’ brokers as to both brokerage and franchised operations in the relevant geographic area. The plaintiffs further allege that commission sharing, which provides for the broker representing the seller sharing or paying a portion of its commission to the broker representing the buyer, is anticompetitive and violates the Sherman Act, and that the brokerage/franchisor defendants conspired with NAR by requiring their respective brokerages/franchisees to comply with NAR’s policies, rules, and Code of Ethics, and engaged in other allegedly anticompetitive conduct including, but not limited to, steering and agent education that allegedly promotes the practice of paying buyer-broker compensation and discourages commission negotiation. Plaintiffs’ experts dispute defendants’ contention that the practice of offering and paying buyer-broker compensation is based on natural and legitimate economic incentives and benefits that exist irrespective of the challenged NAR policies and rules and plaintiffs also contend that international practices are comparable benchmarks. The antitrust claims in the Burnett litigation are limited both in allegations and relief sought to home sellers who from April 29, 2015, to the present used a listing broker affiliated with one of the brokerage/franchisor defendants in four multiple listing services ("MLSs") that primarily serve the State of Missouri, purportedly in violation of federal and Missouri antitrust laws. The plaintiffs also seek injunctive relief enjoining the defendants from requiring home sellers to pay buyer-broker commissions or from otherwise restricting competition among brokers, an award of damages and/or restitution for the class period, attorneys' fees and costs of suit. Plaintiffs allege joint and several liability and seek treble damages. In addition, the plaintiffs had included a cause of action for alleged violations of the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act, or MMPA, on behalf of Missouri residents only, with a class period that commences April 29, 2014, but in October 2023, the court granted plaintiffs' motion to dismiss that cause of action and the Missouri antitrust claims. In September 2019, the Department of Justice ("DOJ") filed a statement of interest and appearances for this matter and, in July 2020 and July 2021, requested the Company provide it with all materials produced in this matter. The Court granted class certification on April 22, 2022 and as certified, includes, according to plaintiffs, over 250,000 transactions for which the plaintiffs are seeking a full refund of the buyer-broker commissions. The Company and the plaintiffs engaged in several mediation sessions, the most recent of which was held at the end of August 2023 and resulted in a settlement of the litigation as against Anywhere (with one other corporate defendant entering into a separate settlement in September 2023). On September 5, 2023, the Company notified the court that it had entered into nationwide settlement with the Burnett and Moehrl plaintiffs and obtained a stay of all proceedings as to the Company while the parties finalized a long form written settlement agreement (“Anywhere Settlement”). On October 5, 2023, Plaintiffs filed the motion for preliminary approval of both the Anywhere Settlement and the settlement with another corporate defendant. A date for the preliminary approval hearing has not yet been set, but the Company expects it will likely occur before year-end. Under the terms of the proposed nationwide Anywhere Settlement, which is subject to both preliminary and final court approval, Anywhere has agreed to provide monetary relief of $83.5 million as well as injunctive relief. The proposed settlement resolves, on a nationwide basis, all claims asserted or could have been asserted against Anywhere in the Burnett and Moehrl cases. Specifically, the Anywhere Settlement releases the Company, all subsidiaries, brands, affiliated agents, and franchisees from all claims that were or could have been asserted by all persons who sold a home that was listed on a multiple listing service anywhere in the United States where a commission was paid to any brokerage in connection with the sale of the home in the relevant class period. The proposed settlement is not an admission of liability, nor does it concede or validate any of the claims asserted against Anywhere. Under the terms of the proposed settlement, Anywhere has agreed to deposit into the settlement fund (i) $10 million within 14 business days after preliminary court approval is granted; (ii) $20 million within 14 business days after the court approval of fees and costs, which is typically granted with final approval; and (iii) the remaining balance within 21 business days after final court approval and all appellate rights are exhausted. The proposed Anywhere Settlement includes injunctive relief for a period of five years following final court approval, requiring practice changes in the Company owned brokerage operations and that the Company recommend and encourage these same practice changes to its independently owned and operated franchise network. The injunctive relief, includes but is not limited to, reminding Company owned brokerages, franchisees and their respective agents that Anywhere has no rule requiring offers of compensation to buyer brokers; prohibiting Company-owned brokerages (and recommending to franchisees) and agents from using technology (or manually) to sort listings by offers of compensation, unless requested by the client; eliminating any minimum client commission for Company-owned brokerages; and refraining from adopting any requirement that Company-owned brokerages, franchisees or their respective agents belong to NAR or follow NAR’s Code of Ethics or MLS handbook. O n November 1, 2023, following a several week trial, judgment was entered against the non-settling defendants and awarded damages to the plaintiffs from the non-settling defendants in the amount of $1.785 billion, before trebling. While the jury found that all named defendants violated Section 1 of the Sherman Act, the judgment does not alter the Anywhere Settlement or the settlement of the other corporate defendant. The court has yet to determine injunctive relief in this action. Moehrl, Cole, Darnell, Ramey, Umpa and Ruh v. The National Association of Realtors, Realogy Holdings Corp., Homeservices of America, Inc., BHH Affiliates, LLC, The Long & Foster Companies, Inc., RE/MAX LLC, and Keller Williams Realty, Inc. (U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois). The complaint, which was filed on March 6, 2019, contains allegations and requests relief substantially similar to the Burnett litigation. The Moehrl plaintiffs seek both damages and injunctive relief. In contrast to the Burnett plaintiffs, the Moehrl plaintiffs acknowledge that there are economic reasons why a seller would offer buyer compensation (and accordingly, do not seek recovery of all commissions paid to buyers’ brokers), although plaintiffs allege that buyer brokers are overpaid due to the mandatory nature of the applicable NAR policies and rules. On March 29, 2023, the Court certified two classes in this litigation—a damages class and an injunctive class. The damages class covers sellers of residential real estate (with certain exceptions) who paid a commission to a brokerage affiliated with a corporate defendant beginning from March 6, 2015 through December 31, 2020 in 20 MLSs in various parts of the country that do not overlap with the Burnett MLSs and that include approximately five of the country's ten largest MLSs. The injunctive class covers current and future sellers of residential real estate (with certain exceptions) who are presently listing or will in the future list their home for sale in one of the 20 MLSs. The Moehrl damages class covers an estimated 3.5 million transactions, substantially larger than the class certified in Burnett (which, as further described above, includes over 250,000 transactions), though as noted above, in contrast to the Burnett plaintiffs, the Moehrl plaintiffs do not seek to recover all commissions paid to buyers' brokers. On April 12, 2023, the Company and the other defendants filed a petition with the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (the "Seventh Circuit") to pursue an interlocutory appeal of the decision on class certification; which the Seventh Circuit denied on May 24, 2023. Merit expert discovery in the case is ongoing. As described above under the Burnett matter, the Company has entered into a settlement of the Moehrl litigation and on September 12, 2023, the court stayed all proceedings against the Company. If preliminary and final approval of the Anywhere Settlement is granted by the Burnett court, that will resolve the Moehrl matter with respect to the Company. Batton, Bolton, Brace, Kim, James, Mullis, Bisbicos and Parsons v. The National Association of Realtors, Realogy Holdings Corp., Homeservices of America, Inc., BHH Affiliates, LLC, HSF Affiliates, LLC, The Long & Foster Companies, Inc., RE/MAX LLC, and Keller Williams Realty, Inc. (U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois Eastern Division). In this putative nationwide class action filed on January 25, 2021 (formerly captioned as Leeder ), the plaintiffs take issue with certain NAR policies, including those related to buyer-broker compensation at issue in the Moehrl and Burnett matters, as well as those at issue in the 2020 settlement between the DOJ and NAR, but claim the alleged conspiracy has harmed buyers (instead of sellers). The plaintiffs allege that the defendants made agreements and engaged in a conspiracy in restraint of trade in violation of the Sherman Act and were unjustly enriched, and seek a permanent injunction enjoining NAR from establishing in the future the same or similar rules, policies, or practices as those challenged in the action as well as an award of damages and/or restitution, interest, and reasonable attorneys’ fees and expenses. On July 6, 2022, plaintiffs filed an amended complaint substituting in eight new named plaintiffs and containing allegations substantially similar to the original complaint but also adding certain claims under state antitrust statutes and consumer protection statutes. Motions to dismiss remain pending and discovery has not commenced. The Company disputes the allegations against it in this case, believes it has substantial defenses to plaintiffs’ claims, and is vigorously defending this litigation. Nosalek, Hirschorn and Hirschorn v. MLS Property Information Network, Inc., Realogy Holdings Corp., Homeservices of America, Inc., BHH Affiliates, LLC, HSF Affiliates, LLC, RE/MAX LLC, and Keller Williams Realty, Inc. (U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts). This is a putative class action filed on December 17, 2020 (formerly captioned as Bauman ), wherein the plaintiffs take issue with policies and rules similar to those at issue in the Moehrl and Burnett matters, but rather than objecting to the national policies and rules published by NAR, this lawsuit specifically objects to the alleged policies and rules of a multiple listing service (MLS Property Information Network, Inc . ) that is owned by realtors, including in part by one of the Company's company-owned brokerages. The plaintiffs allege that the defendants made agreements and engaged in a conspiracy in restraint of trade in violation of the Sherman Act and seek a permanent injunction, enjoining the defendants from continuing conduct determined to be unlawful, as well as an award of damages and/or restitution, interest, and reasonable attorneys’ fees and expenses. On December 10, 2021, the Court denied the motion to dismiss filed in March 2021 by the Company (together with the other defendants named in the complaint) and in January 2022, the plaintiffs filed a second amended complaint which, among other things, redefined the covered area as limited to home sales in Massachusetts (removing New Hampshire and Rhode Island). The lawsuit seeks to represent a class of sellers who paid a broker commission in connection with the sale of a property listed in the MLS Property Information Network, Inc. On January 23, 2023, MLS Property Information Network, Inc., HomeServices of America, Inc., BHH Affiliates, LLC, HSF Affiliates, LLC, RE/MAX LLC, and Keller Williams Realty, Inc. filed their answer to the second amended complaint. The Anywhere defendants filed their answer to the second amended complaint on February 21, 2023. Discovery in the case has commenced. On September 5, 2023, following its initial motion seeking preliminary approval of a settlement that had been filed on June 30, 2023 and a court hearing held on August 9, 2023, the MLS Property Information Network, Inc. filed a motion for preliminary approval of an amended settlement covering sellers who paid, and/or on whose behalf sellers' brokers paid, buyer-broker commissions during the settlement class period in connection with the sale of residential real estate listed on the centralized listing database of MLS Property Information Network, Inc. The corporate defendants, including Anywhere, are not a party to the motion or settlement. The settlement, if finally approved by the Court, requires MLS Property Information Network, Inc to eliminate the requirement that a seller must offer compensation to a buyer-broker and to change various other rules to give sellers various notices and rules relating to negotiation of buyer-broker compensation. In addition to the foregoing injunctive relief, MLS Property Information Network, Inc. has agreed to pay $3 million into a settlement fund. On September 7, 2023, the court granted preliminary approval of the settlement and set a hearing date of January 4, 2024 for final approval, which the court subsequently moved to March 7, 2024, in response to a statement of interest and motion to extend filed by the DOJ so that it could evaluate the proposed settlement and its competitive effects. Given that no class has yet been certified in the Nosalek litigation, it is expected that the purported class members of the Nosalek litigation will be included in the nationwide class certified by the court for settlement purposes under the Anywhere Settlement, and final approval of the Anywhere Settlement would accordingly resolve the Nosalek litigation as to the Company. Relatedly, on October 27, 2023, the Nosalek court granted the joint motion filed by the plaintiffs and Anywhere to stay the Nosalek litigation against the Company for 30 days (subject to extension as necessary). Telephone Consumer Protection Act Litigation Bumpus, et al. v. Realogy Holdings Corp., et al. (U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Francisco Division). In this class action filed on June 11, 2019, against Anywhere Real Estate Inc. (f/k/a Realogy Holdings Corp.), Anywhere Intermediate Holdings LLC (f/k/a Realogy Intermediate Holdings LLC), Anywhere Real Estate Group LLC (f/k/a Realogy Group LLC), Anywhere Real Estate Services Group LLC (f/k/a Realogy Services Group LLC), and Anywhere Advisors LLC (f/k/a Realogy Brokerage Group LLC and NRT LLC), and Mojo Dialing Solutions, LLC, plaintiffs allege that independent sales agents affiliated with Anywhere Advisors LLC violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (TCPA) using dialers provided by Mojo and others. Plaintiffs seek relief on behalf of a National Do Not Call Registry class, an Internal Do Not Call class, and an Artificial or Prerecorded Message class. In March 2022, the Court granted plaintiffs’ motion for class certification for the foregoing classes as to the Anywhere defendants but not as to co-defendant Mojo and dismissed Mojo from the case. Plaintiffs and the Anywhere defendants’ cross-motions for summary judgment were denied without prejudice on May 11, 2022. The Company's petition for permission to appeal the class certification filed with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals was denied and the plaintiffs’ class notice plan was approved on May 26, 2022. Plaintiffs had claimed that approximately 1.2 million Do Not Call calls and approximately 265,000 Pre-Recorded Messages qualified for inclusion in the classes, but on March 29, 2023, filed a motion to narrow the classes to approximately 321,000 Do Not Call calls and approximately 165,000 Pre-Recorded Messages. On April 12, 2023, the Company opposed Plaintiffs' motion to modify the classes and sought to decertify them. On April 24, 2023, the Court vacated the April 27, 2023 hearing and pretrial conference and set the jury trial to commence on May 15, 2023, and on May 25, 2023 set a jury trial date for January 29, 2024 and a pretrial conference for January 11, 2024. Plaintiffs' motion to narrow the classes, the Company’s opposition seeking to decertify the classes, as well as other pre-trial motions, are pending. The Company disputes the allegations against it in this case, believes it has substantial defenses to both plaintiffs’ liability claims and damage assertions, and is vigorously defending this action. Other Examples of other legal matters involving the Company may include but are not limited to: • antitrust and anti-competition claims; • TCPA claims; • claims alleging violations of RESPA, state consumer fraud statutes, federal consumer protection statutes or other state real estate law violations; • employment law claims, including claims that independent residential real estate sales agents engaged by our company owned brokerages or by affiliated franchisees—under certain state or federal laws—are potentially employees instead of independent contractors, and they or regulators therefore may bring claims against our Owned Brokerage Group for breach of contract, wage and hour classification claims, wrongful discharge, unemployment and workers' compensation and could seek benefits, back wages, overtime, indemnification, penalties related to classification practices and expense reimbursement available to employees or make similar claims against Franchise Group as an alleged joint employer of an affiliated franchisee’s independent sales agents; • other employment law matters, including other types of worker classification claims as well as wage and hour claims and retaliation claims; • information security claims, including claims under new and emerging data privacy laws related to the protection of customer, employee or third-party information; • cyber-crime claims, including claims related to the diversion of homesale transaction closing funds; • vicarious or joint liability claims based upon the conduct of individuals or entities traditionally outside of our control, including franchisees and independent sales agents, under joint employer claims or other theories of actual or apparent agency; • claims by current or former franchisees that franchise agreements were breached, including improper terminations; • claims generally against the company owned brokerage operations for negligence, misrepresentation or breach of fiduciary duty in connection with the performance of real estate brokerage or other professional services as well as other brokerage claims associated with listing information and property history; • claims related to intellectual property or copyright law, including infringement actions alleging improper use of copyrighted photographs on websites or in marketing materials without consent of the copyright holder or claims challenging our trademarks; • claims concerning breach of obligations to make websites and other services accessible for consumers with disabilities; • claims against the title agent contending that the agent knew or should have known that a transaction was fraudulent or that the agent was negligent in addressing title defects or conducting the settlement; • claims related to disclosure or securities law violations as well as derivative suits; and • fraud, defalcation or misconduct claims. Other ordinary course legal proceedings that may arise from time to time include those related to commercial arrangements, indemnification (under contract or common law), franchising arrangements, the fiduciary duties of brokers, standard brokerage disputes like the failure to disclose accurate square footage or hidden defects in the property such as mold, claims under the False Claims Act (or similar state laws), consumer lending and debt collection law claims, state auction law, and violations of similar laws in countries where we operate around the world with respect to any of the foregoing. In addition, with the increasing requirements resulting from government laws and regulations concerning data breach notifications and data privacy and protection obligations, claims associated with these laws may become more common. While most litigation involves claims against the Company, from time to time the Company commences litigation, including litigation against former employees, franchisees and competitors when it alleges that such persons or entities have breached agreements or engaged in other wrongful conduct. * * * Cendant Corporate Liabilities and Guarantees to Cendant and Affiliates Anywhere Group (then Realogy Corporation) separated from Cendant on July 31, 2006 (the "Separation"), pursuant to a plan by Cendant (now known as Avis Budget Group, Inc.) to separate into four independent companies—one for each of Cendant's business units—real estate services (Anywhere Group, formerly referred to as Realogy Group), travel distribution services ("Travelport"), hospitality services, including timeshare resorts ("Wyndham Worldwide"), and vehicle rental ("Avis Budget Group"). Pursuant to the Separation and Distribution Agreement dated as of July 27, 2006 among Cendant, Anywhere Group, Wyndham Worldwide and Travelport (the "Separation and Distribution Agreement"), each of Anywhere Group, Wyndham Worldwide and Travelport have assumed certain contingent and other corporate liabilities (and related costs and expenses), which are primarily related to each of their respective businesses. In addition, Anywhere Group has assumed 62.5% and Wyndham Worldwide has assumed 37.5% of certain contingent and other corporate liabilities (and related costs and expenses) of Cendant. The due to former parent balance was $37 million at September 30, 2023 and $20 million at December 31, 2022, respectively. The due to former parent balance was comprised of the Company’s portion of the following: (i) Cendant’s remaining contingent tax liabilities, (ii) potential liabilities related to Cendant’s terminated or divested businesses, and (iii) potential liabilities related to the residual portion of accruals for Cendant operations. In December 2022, a hearing was held with the California Office of Tax Appeals ("OTA") on a Cendant legacy tax matter involving Avis Budget Group that related to a 1999 transaction. The case presented two issues: (i) whether the notices of proposed assessment issued by the California Franchise Tax Board were barred by the statute of limitations; and (ii) whether a transaction undertaken by Avis Budget Group in tax year 1999 constituted a tax-free reorganization under the Internal Revenue Code. In March 2023, the OTA decided in favor of the California Franchise Tax Board on both issues. As a result, the Company increased the reserve for this legacy tax matter in the first quarter of 2023 and as of September 30, 2023 the reserve is $37 million. The OTA’s opinion is not final, and the Company has filed a petition for rehearing and continues to vigorously pursue this matter. If the rehearing is denied, the tax assessment will become payable, even if judicial relief is sought. Tax Matters The Company is subject to income taxes in the United States and several foreign jurisdictions. Significant judgment is required in determining the worldwide provision for income taxes and recording related assets and liabilities. In the ordinary course of business, there are many transactions and calculations where the ultimate tax determination is uncertain. The Company is regularly under audit by tax authorities whereby the outcome of the audits is uncertain. The Company believes there is appropriate support for positions taken on its tax returns. The liabilities that have been recorded represent the best estimates of the probable loss on certain positions and are adequate for all open years based on an assessment of many factors including past experience and interpretations of tax law applied to the facts of each matter. However, the outcomes of tax audits are inherently uncertain. Escrow and Trust Deposits As a service to its customers, the Company administers escrow and trust deposits which represent undisbursed amounts received for the settlement of real estate transactions. Deposits at FDIC-insured institutions are insured up to $250,000. These escrow and trust deposits totaled approximately $816 million at September 30, 2023 and while these deposits are not assets of the Company (and therefore are excluded from the accompanying Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets), the Company remains contingently liable for the disposition of these deposits. | | |
