By Brooklee Han | HousingWire
Though the National Association of Realtors is not out of the legal woods yet, the trade group does have reason to celebrate. A federal court judge on Wednesday dismissed all antitrust allegations made by REX Real Estate against NAR and Zillow.
The remaining claims in the case are all against Zillow, meaning that NAR is no longer a defendant in the case and will not have to participate if it heads to trial next month as scheduled.
In his order dismissing the claims, Judge Thomas Zilly of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington wrote that the “Court concludes that REX has failed to present evidence of the conspiracy alleged in its Amended Complaint, namely, a purported agreement between NAR, Zillow, and non-party MLSs to segregate, conceal, and demote non-MLS listings on Zillow’s websites and mobile platforms.”
The antitrust claims against NAR and Zillow were dismissed with prejudice.
In the order, (Judge Thomas) Zilly noted that NAR’s No-Commingling Rule was optional and that about 29% of Realtor-affiliated MLSs had not adopted the rule, without any repercussions from NAR. On its own, the rule “does not constitute direct or circumstantial evidence of an anticompetitive agreement between NAR and Zillow,” Zilly wrote.
“The undisputed evidence in this action shows that neither NAR nor its affiliated MLSs were involved in Zillow’s decision to implement the challenged two-tab display that allegedly drove REX out of business,” he added.
Zilly also pointed out the unlike other brokerage, Zillow continued to display REX’s listings.
“The evidence demonstrates that instead of precluding REX’s listings entirely, like websites such as Redfin did … Zillow expended significant time and resources to ensure that REX’s and other non-MLS listings would remain on its platforms, albeit under a separate tab,” the order reads.
Read More (subscriber content)
Some stories may only appear as partial reprints because of publisher restrictions.