Borrowers and buyers suing Zillow for alleged RESPA violations and racketeering laid out new arguments in court filings last week, largely focused on pushing back against the portal’s contention that their lawsuit lacks legal merit while emphasizing their case hinges on agents’ obligations to represent clients’ best interests. The case, composed of two consolidated class-action…
Per a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and court documents, REMAX has reached a settlement agreement in the Batton commission lawsuit (the first and largest by homebuyers) and will pay $8.5 million to resolve claims that it implemented and enforced rules that harmed buyers. The news comes the day after Judge LaShonda…
Just under nine months after filing a bombshell lawsuit against Zillow, Compass is dropping its legal challenge after the portal quietly modified its “Listing Access Standards” yesterday. The lawsuit had claimed that Zillow conspired with fellow portal Redfin to prevent Compass from implementing its “three-phased marketing plan” that involves a private listing phase. Last April,…
When the Compass-Anywhere deal closed in early January with little fanfare—only three months after it was announced—there were at least some raised eyebrows. A deal of that magnitude often elicits significant regulatory scrutiny, with multiple federal agencies given a chance over the course of months to examine how a merger will affect markets or whether…
Assistant Attorney General Gail Slater, who was overseeing the long-suffering Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation into the National Association of Realtors® (NAR), announced on social media yesterday that she would be resigning from the position, effective immediately. “It is with great sadness and abiding hope that I leave my role as (assistant attorney general) for…
After months of silence—and some indications that it was backing off its most aggressive positions—the Department of Justice (DOJ) under President Donald Trump is again addressing what it describes as “anticompetitive rules, policies and practices in the residential real-estate industry” as it intervened in yet another commission case last week. In a 23-page “statement of…
In the late stages of a lawsuit against eXp alleging the brokerage allowed and covered up sexual assaults at company events, eXp is seeking to have a new charge of fraud dismissed. In a third amended complaint filed late October, plaintiffs claimed that eXp executives lied both privately and publicly about investigating allegations of multiple…
The COURT REPORT is RISMedia’s weekly look at current and upcoming lawsuits, investigations and other legal developments around real estate. Four days of testimony set battle lines in Zillow-Compass showdown With top executives, brokers and a mob of journalists packing a high-rise federal courtroom in Manhattan last week, the public got its first glimpse of…
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…
In a class-action lawsuit focused on Zillow’s mortgage referral and fee structures, plaintiffs just added a bevy of new accusations, citing a handful of “confidential witnesses”—current and former loan officers and agents who worked with the company—who claim Zillow sought to hide the fact it was funneling customers to its mortgage business. Alleging violations of…
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