Business news in brief

By The Associated Press

Redfin agrees to pay $9.25M to settle lawsuits

Redfin has agreed to pay $9.25 million to settle federal lawsuits that claim U.S. homeowners were saddled with artificially inflated broker commissions when they sold their home as a result of longstanding real estate industry practices.

The Seattle-based online brokerage and real estate services company disclosed the proposed settlement Monday in a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The settlement, which must be approved by the court, would resolve pending class action lawsuits filed in federal court in the Western District of Missouri, and also shield the company and agents from similar cases around the country.

Several other big brokerage operators and the National Association of Realtors agreed to settle the litigation in recent months.

Former Starbucks CEO says company needs to refocus on coffee

Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz says the company’s leaders should spend more time in stores and focus on coffee drinks as they work to turn around flagging sales.

In a LinkedIn post published over the weekend, Schultz said many people had reached out to him after Starbucks reported weaker-than-expected quarterly sales and earnings last week.

Starbucks says it’s seeing slower traffic around the world as U.S. and Chinese customers pull back on spending. It’s also facing boycotts in some markets for its perceived support of Israel.

Schultz left Starbucks’ board last fall but remains the company’s largest individual shareholder.

Trump Media fires auditing firm

NEW YORK | Trump Media and Technology Group, the owner of social networking site Truth Social, has fired an auditor that federal regulators recently charged with “massive fraud.”

The former president’s media company dismissed BF Borgers as its independent public accounting firm on Friday and engaged with Semple, Marchal & Cooper as its replacement over the weekend, according to a securities filing.

BF Borgers’ dismissal arrived on the same day that the Securities and Exchange Commission charged the firm and its owner Benjamin F. Borgers with “deliberate and systematic failures” in more than 1,500 audits. That does not involve any work BF Borgers performed for Trump Media, but BF Borgers and its owner agreed to permanent suspensions to settle the charges.

—From AP reports