Homes.com’s parent company has filed a “friend of the court” brief defending Compass and Chicago’s MRED multiple listing service.
Last week, CoStar tried to intervene in the fight between Zillow, Compass, and Chicago’s MLS. Today, the judge overseeing the case between the three fighters rejected that effort.
CoStar filed what is known as a “friend of the court,” or amicus brief, in the antitrust lawsuit Zillow filed last month against MRED MLS and Compass. The judge did not explain the reasoning behind his one-sentence sentence.
“We sought to call attention to Zillow’s obvious hypocrisy. Zillow is asking the courts to guarantee access to MLS listing data, while at the same time creating its own pre-market listing channel and seeking to restrict other channels,” Gene Boxer, CoStar’s general counsel, told Inman in a statement.
“That contradiction is important to the entire residential real estate industry. Zillow cannot claim to be upholding openness and transparency while building a system that favors Zillow, withholds inventory from competing platforms, and undermines the very principles it stands for in court.”
The lawsuit targets what Zillow claims is an illegal conspiracy between MRED and Compass to force Zillow to display listings that violate its own rules. Zillow alleged that both parties are threatening to cut off Zillow’s access to listings that allow them to manipulate their platform to get their way.
MRED actually followed through on its threat to cut off Zillow’s access to its direct feed of listings submitted by all brokerages. This was in response to MRED’s claims that Zillow violated MLS rules that prohibit targeted censorship of listings submitted by certain brokerages.
RealTracks of Nashville, the second major MLS, followed MRED in threatening to cut off Zillow’s access to listings in the region. (As of Monday, the parties were still negotiating, and Zillow’s full feed of listings in the Realtracks coverage area remains live.)
CoStar’s attempt to intervene in the case is just the latest effort to differentiate itself as a worthy alternative to Zillow.
Court briefs allow individuals or organizations with a strong and relevant interest in the litigation to provide “additional relevant information or arguments” that may be helpful to the court, without becoming a plaintiff or defendant.
Both portals compete for consumer attention as real estate listings can be used to build an audience and monetize through buyer and seller leads and other revenue streams.
In its submission, CoStar focused on Zillow Preview, the portal’s recent feature that allows agents to pre-sell listings on the platform.
Koster argued in the filing that Zillow is trying to play it both ways, with rules that block some Compass presale listings while also having a program that allows agents from other brokerages to post presale listings directly on Zillow.
“Unfettered by consistency constraints, Zillow boldly (and hypocritically) alleges in this lawsuit that the brokerage firm ‘blocks off listings in its large network from outside competitors and prevents competitors from displaying those listings publicly’ and ‘uses its large network to lure buyers and sellers, resulting in so-called network effects,'” the briefing said.
“However, the actions Zillow has vociferously condemned accurately represent Zillow’s own actions and objectives with respect to Zillow Preview. Through exclusive deals, Zillow has cut off pre-market listings from competitors like Homes.com, and is seeking to leverage its extensive network, including listings not available on competing platforms, to lure customers.”
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