On August 17, 2024, the real estate industry changed how agents get paid. More than a year later, the dust hasn't fully settled. Two new lawsuits landed in early 2025. A few state legislatures floated their own bills. And buyers across Indianapolis are still signing paperwork they weren't signing 18 months ago, often without a clear explanation of why.
Here's what actually changed, what it means for Indy buyers and sellers right now, and where the legal picture still has some open questions.
What the NAR Settlement Actually Changed
In March 2024, the National Association of Realtors settled a class-action antitrust lawsuit for $418 million. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of home sellers, argued that NAR's commission rules artificially inflated what sellers paid buyer's agents. The settlement didn't eliminate agent commissions, but it changed two specific rules that went into effect for every MLS in the country, including MIBOR (Metropolitan Indianapolis Board of Realtors), starting August 17, 2024.
Rule 1: Sellers no longer have to advertise buyer agent compensation in the MLS. Before the settlement, a seller listing their home would include a cooperative compensation field showing how much their agent would pay the buyer's agent. That field is gone from MLS listings. Sellers can still choose to offer compensation, but they can't advertise it in the listing itself.
Rule 2: Buyers must sign a written agreement before an agent shows them homes. This is the change most buyers encounter first. If you want to tour a house with a Roots agent, they'll ask you to sign a buyer representation agreement before the first showing. Indiana has long required buyer's agents to provide agency disclosure, but the signed-before-showing requirement is new under NAR rules for all MLS-participating agents.
What Buyers Should Know Before Signing a Buyer Agreement
A buyer representation agreement isn't just paperwork. It spells out exactly what you're agreeing to pay your agent and under what circumstances. Before signing one, there are three specific questions worth asking.
What's the compensation amount, and how is it paid? The agreement should state a specific dollar amount or percentage. It might say 2.5% of the purchase price, or it might be a flat fee. Whatever the number, it should be written down. If a seller offers to cover the buyer's agent fee (many still do), that offer can be applied toward what the buyer owes under the agreement. If the seller doesn't offer anything, the buyer is responsible for the difference.
What's the term of the agreement? Some agreements cover a single showing. Others lock you in for six months with a specific agent. A reasonable starting point is 30 to 90 days with an exit clause if the relationship isn't working. Signing a six-month exclusive agreement at the first showing before you've seen how the agent works isn't in your interest.
What happens if the seller offers less than the agreed compensation? If the agreement says the agent earns 2.5% and the seller only offers 2%, someone owes the remaining 0.5%. Often this is negotiated as part of the offer. Sometimes it's built into the purchase price. Knowing how your agent handles this before you write an offer matters, and a transparent agent will walk you through the scenarios upfront.
Commission structure is one piece of a larger financial picture for buyers. If you're also working through what current rates mean for your monthly payment, Roots' breakdown of mortgage rates in 2026 for Indy buyers is a useful starting point.
What Sellers Should Think About Offering Compensation
Sellers can now choose not to offer buyer agent compensation. Some have. The question is whether that's actually a smart move in the Indianapolis market.
Most Indy sellers are still offering buyer's agent compensation, and for a clear reason: if you don't offer it, buyers who don't have cash to cover their agent's fee may pass on your home or factor their agent costs into a lower offer. In a market where inventory has stayed tight across many price ranges, most sellers don't want to narrow their buyer pool unnecessarily.
What's changed is that the negotiation is now more explicit. Sellers and their agents are having real conversations about whether offering 2%, 2.5%, or 3% to a buyer's agent makes sense given the price point and competition. That conversation used to happen quietly. Now it's a strategy discussion, which is closer to how it should work.
There's no universal right answer. A well-priced home in a supply-constrained neighborhood has more leverage than a home sitting in a segment with several similar listings. For context on where Indy's market has been trending, the Indianapolis Q3 2025 housing market recap covers inventory and pricing movement from the second half of last year.
Where the Lawsuits Still Stand
The NAR settlement resolved the Sitzer/Burnett case, but it wasn't the only lawsuit. The Moehrl case, covering sellers in different MLS markets, is still working through the courts. Several new cases filed in 2024 and 2025 challenge aspects of how the settlement was implemented or target regional MLSs and brokerages that weren't party to the original suit. A handful of individual brokerages settled their own cases separately.
What could still change: additional rulings may require further rule updates around how compensation offers can be communicated, or more standardized disclosure language in buyer agreements. What's unlikely to change: a fundamental reversal of the August 2024 rules. They're operating stably across the country, and the industry has largely adapted.
For Indy buyers and sellers, the practical implication is straightforward. Treat the current rules as durable, and make sure your agent is staying current on any updates that come through the courts. An agent who can't clearly explain how compensation works right now is a sign worth paying attention to.
The Bottom Line
A year in, the commission change has been less dramatic than the early headlines suggested, and more real than the "nothing changed" take. Buyers are signing agreements they weren't signing before. Sellers are having explicit conversations about compensation that used to get skipped. Agents who were already transparent about their fees and their value adapted quickly. Those who weren't had a harder time explaining why someone should sign a document committing to pay them.
The Indy market is moving through this transition the same way it moves through most things: practically, without a lot of drama. If you have questions about how buyer agreements work, what to look for before you sign one, or how to think about compensation when you're getting ready to list, happy to walk through it. No pressure either way.