One of the largest U.S. residential real estate brokerage firms is taking on real estate giant Zillow over “consumer choice.”
On Monday, real estate brokerage Compass filed a 60-page complaint in Manhattan federal court, claiming that Zillow is improperly refusing to list homes on its site that were first listed elsewhere.
“The Zillow Ban seeks to ensure that all home listings in this country are steered on to its dominant search platform so Zillow can monetize each home listing and protect its monopoly,” the complaint states, addin that “[i]n a free and competitive market, competitors’ products and strategies should rise and fall on merit—not the whims of a monopolist gatekeeper like Zillow.”
“This lawsuit is about protecting consumer choice,” Compass Founder & CEO Robert Reffkin said in a statement to FOX Business. “No one company should have the power to ban agents or listings simply because they don’t follow that company’s business model. That’s not competition. It’s coercion. Imagine if Amazon banned a seller for offering a product on their own website first. That’s what Zillow is doing in real estate. Consumers should have the right to choose how they sell their homes.”
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Compass, based in Manhattan, is seeking an injunction against Zillow to force them to change their practices, as well as monetary damages.
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Zillow, based in Seattle, has about 160 million homes in its database, receives 227 million unique visitors a month and received 2.4 billion visits between January and March, according to Reuters. They called Compass’ claims “unfounded” and told FOX Business that it “will vigorously defend against them.”
“When a listing is publicly marketed, it should be accessible to all buyers – across all platforms, including Zillow,” a statement from a Zillow spokesperson said.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| COMP | COMPASS INC. | 6.30 | +0.03 | +0.40% |
| Z | ZILLOW GROUP INC. | 69.22 | +0.77 | +1.12% |
“Hiding listings creates a fragmented market, limits consumer choice and creates barriers to homeownership, which is bad for buyers, sellers, and the industry at large, especially in this inventory and affordability-constrained environment,” the spokesperson added.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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