A federal judge has rejected a legal brief filed by CoStar Group, operator of Homes.com, which sought to oppose Zillow’s motion in its ongoing legal battle with Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED). This decision comes after Zillow was granted a preliminary injunction, restoring its access to MRED’s listing data.
Key Takeaways
- A judge has rejected CoStar Group’s amicus curiae brief opposing Zillow’s motion.
- The brief argued Zillow’s requested relief would reward anticompetitive conduct.
- Zillow countered that CoStar conflates pre-marketing with private marketing.
- The legal battle centers on access to MLS listing data.
CoStar’s Opposition
CoStar Group, through its brief filed on June 10, argued that Zillow’s requested legal relief would "reward Zillow’s own anticompetitive conduct and create a profoundly asymmetric competitive landscape, contrary to the public interest." The company contended that Zillow is seeking "unfettered access to MLS listings, while retaining the right to ban rival premarket listings," asserting that Zillow Preview effectively blocks competitors like Homes.com from accessing these exclusive listings.
CoStar further stated that Zillow’s motion is part of a "scheme to expand its ecosystem and replace the nonprofit MLS system." Gene Boxer, CoStar’s general counsel, criticized Zillow’s approach, calling it a "breathtaking ‘heads I win, tails you lose’ proposition" where Zillow seeks court orders for MLS data access while hoarding its own premarket inventory.
Zillow’s Rebuttal
In response to CoStar’s filing, Matt Kreamer, Zillow’s communications director, rejected the arguments, stating that CoStar and Compass are making the same "flawed argument: that premarketing and private marketing are the same thing. They are not, and the distinction matters enormously."
Kreamer clarified that Zillow Preview is premarketing, publicly visible to any buyer, while Compass Private Exclusives are described as "pay-to-play private marketing" listings hidden from buyers unless they work with a Compass agent. Zillow argues that this distinction is crucial and that conflating the two is a "word game designed to muddy a clear distinction."
The Ongoing Legal Battle
The core of the dispute involves Zillow’s access to MRED’s licensed listing data. A federal judge previously granted Zillow a preliminary injunction on May 22, reinstating its access. CoStar’s attempt to intervene with its brief aimed to influence the court’s decision by highlighting what it perceives as Zillow’s hypocritical stance on data access and exclusivity.