It’s official: A legal settlement that will rewrite the way many real estate agents are paid in the United States has received its final approval from a federal judge.

Judge Stephen R. Bough of the Western District of Missouri on Tuesday approved an agreement between the National Association of Realtors and a group of home sellers who sued the real estate trade group over its longstanding rules on agents’ commissions, which they say forced them to pay excessive fees. He followed with a written order, signed Wednesday morning.

It was the last step in an eight-month process that was set in motion when N.A.R., the nation’s largest trade association, agreed to the landmark deal on March 15. It was also largely a formality — Judge Bough gave preliminary approval to the agreement on April 23, and the rule changes detailed in the settlement took effect on Aug. 17, forcing agents across the country to begin adjusting how they do their jobs.

ImageScott and Rhonda Burnett at their home in Kansas City in March 2024. The couple were the lead plaintiffs in the Missouri lawsuit against the National Association of Realtors.Credit...Dominick Williams for The New York Times

N.A.R. reached the agreement in March to settle the lawsuit, as well as a series of similar claims, by committing to make the changes and to pay $418 million in damages to a settlement fund. That saved them significant money: In October 2023, a jury had agreed with homeowners who argued that N.A.R.’s rules governing agent commissions forced them to pay excessive fees when they sold their properties, and reached a verdict that would have required the organization to pay at least $1.8 billion in damages.

The trade group, which is based in Chicago and has 1.5 million members, has wielded immense influence over the real estate industry for more than a century. But home sellers in Missouri, whose lawsuit against N.A.R. and several brokerages was followed by multiple copycat claims, successfully argued that requiring a seller’s agent to make an offer of commission to a buyer’s agent led to inflated fees, and that another rule requiring agents to list homes on databases controlled by N.A.R. affiliates stifled competition.

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