The COURT REPORT is RISMedia’s weekly look at current and upcoming lawsuits, investigations and other legal developments around real estate. Lawsuits against Zillow and Redfin consolidated A partnership between Zillow and Redfin has come under litigation, with both the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and subsequently five state attorneys general filing to block the partnership on…
Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED), which claims almost 50,000 members in the Chicago region, has issued a forceful public rebuttal to Zillow’s recent study alleging that private listings in Chicago reinforce housing segregation, pointing to internal Zillow documents as it argues the portal giant’s criticism may be driven more by business strategy than consumer protection.…
NEW YORK CITY—U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas heard closing arguments Friday, Nov. 21, capping off a weeklong hearing between real estate giants Zillow and Compass. At the heart of the case is Compass’s Three-Phased Marketing (3-PM) Strategy, which allows homesellers to market properties privately before listing them publicly on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) and…
With Compass and Zillow locked into a high-stakes fight over listing restrictions and market power, company executives testified in federal court for the third day yesterday as Compass leadership addressed the specifics of its private listing-focused strategy, from alleged harm to its business from the Zillow rules, to how it communicated with agents. The trial—officially…
After the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) made comprehensive updates to MLS policies—saying that most are meant to “modernize” and remove “outdated practices”—brokers who are currently suing NAR are citing the changes as an acknowledgment that these policies ran afoul of the law. In a court filing yesterday, lawyers representing three real estate professionals in…
AI has entered the real estate chat—and it doesn’t appear to be going anywhere anytime soon. While some say the AI bubble may burst in the next year or two, that’s not the feeling you get perusing real estate tradeshow exhibit halls where vendors pitch AI solutions for just about everything. Whether it’s the promise…
HOUSTON—The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) wrapped up its annual conference Monday with the Board of Directors (BOD) approving sweeping policy changes, many explicitly as part of an “antitrust risk assessment” effort. Most notably, the association, today, announced the approval of 18 comprehensive updates to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) Handbook, constituting the most extensive…
In a legal filing Nov. 12 in New York’s U.S. District Court ahead of a high-stakes hearing starting Nov. 18 to address Compass’s preliminary injunction motion, Zillow defended its new rules around private listings amid its ongoing court battle with Compass. The standards, which took effect in June, prohibit listings on Zillow that are publicly…
The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) has faced significant criticism following the events of the Burnett trial and settlement, leaving many still dissatisfied with how the organization has responded to issues the association, and the real estate industry at large, continue to face. In response to ongoing concerns involving NAR, a group of 15 industry…
Zillow is facing a second proposed class-action lawsuit in as many months, as lawyers seeking to represent Zillow mortgage customers allege that referrals to Zillow Home Loans are a “coercive scheme,” violating RESPA and other state and federal laws. Filed late last week in federal district court in Washington, the lawsuit adds another angle to…
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