Deceptive Practice Settlement

Gray Ritter Graham attorneys Patrick Hagerty and Tom Neill secured a settlement of over $1,000,000 in a class action challenging a common real estate practice as deceitful. The case is Heckemeyer v. NRT Missouri, in the St. Louis County Circuit Court.

Many homeowners in the County have 2-story entry foyers and some have 2-story great rooms. Several realtors, rather than accurately stating the square footage of the homes, simply “double-up” the total of the first floor square footage. This leads to open air being counted as square footage, which GRG proved is a violation of industry standards and misleading to purchasers.

After lengthy pre-trial discovery, the case settled at mediation.