Zillow and MLS Firms Settle ShowingTime Antitrust Suit

A settlement has been reached between Zillow Group and three multiple listing service (MLS) organizations in a lawsuit involving Zillow’s ShowingTime product. According to a court document filed on June 13, Zillow Group and the defendants — Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service (ARMLS), Wisconsin’s Metro Multiple Listing Service (Metro MLS), and MLS Aligned, an MLS collaboration that developed Aligned Showings — have agreed in principle to terms that will result in the dismissal of claims, once finalized.

The legal dispute began in December when Zillow filed a lawsuit alleging that plans to remove ShowingTime from ARMLS and Metro MLS, replacing it with the proprietary Aligned Showings platform, effectively created a monopoly in those regions. Zillow claimed that rather than competing on the merits, MLS Aligned conspired to remove the ShowingTime integration in favor of Aligned Showings. Zillow emphasized that it offered ShowingTime access for free in those markets.

Related: Judge Rules Zillow CEO Can Be Deposed In Antitrust Case

The other MLS members in the Aligned network — RMLS in Oregon, Northern Nevada Regional MLS, UtahRealEstate.com, MLSListings in Northern California, and BeachesMLS in Florida — were not listed as defendants in Zillow’s complaint.

Zillow’s Chief Industry Development Officer Errol Samuelson expressed disappointment over the situation in a blog post. He stated that Zillow made numerous attempts to convince ARMLS and Metro MLS to keep the ShowingTime integration active as an additional option for their agent members, as other MLSs in the consortium had done. However, ARMLS and Metro MLS declined all offered alternatives and resolutions, leaving their agent members with no choice.

In a response filed in February, attorneys for ARMLS and Metro MLS argued that adding the Aligned Showings platform actually increases competition in the marketplace. They stated that the loss of two integration contracts in a national market of hundreds of MLSs should not give rise to antitrust liability.

Source: Real Estate News