Real estate tech company Zillow Group Inc. has reached a preliminary settlement in an antitrust suit it filed in December.
Seattle-based Zillow (Nasdaq: ZG), which filed the lawsuit Dec. 22, 2023, alleges Phoenix-area Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service (ARMLS) and Milwaukee-area Metro MLS, along with the consortium MLS Aligned are trying to stop agents from using Zillow's platform ShowingTime, which allows agents to schedule and manage listings.
Zillow filed the suit against two multiple listing services and an MLS consortium for removing a Zillow tool from their platforms. The preliminary settlement, filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, didn't disclose terms but said paperwork for the final settlement should be complete within about a month.
Zillow had alleged Phoenix-area Arizona Regional MLS, Milwaukee-area Metro MLS and the consortium MLS Aligned were trying to stop real estate agents from using ShowingTime, a Zillow tool that allows agents to schedule and manage listings. A Zillow spokesperson said the company couldn't comment on active litigation, noting the settlement was preliminary.
The MLSs declined to comment to the Puget Sound Business Journal in Seattle.
MLS Aligned formed in 2021, after which the consortium acquired and rebranded another showing-management platform, Aligned Showings. Zillow claimed MLS Aligned tried steering agents toward Aligned Showings by making it the default setting and disparaging ShowingTime. When that didn't work, according to the lawsuit, the Phoenix and Milwaukee MLSs decided to remove ShowingTime from their member portals altogether.
Arizona Regional MLS removed ShowingTime in December, and Metro MLS did the same in February. MLS Aligned comprises seven regional MLSs, but none of the other five were named as defendants in the lawsuit.
In February, Arizona Regional MLS and Metro MLS filed a motion to dismiss the case, alleging Zillow only filed the lawsuit because the company is threatened by more competition.
"Although robust competition is the very cornerstone of American capitalism, Plaintiffs perceive it as a mortal threat and seek to weaponize the antitrust laws to kill it," Metro MLS and Arizona Regional MLS wrote in the motion. "The notion that ShowingTime’s loss of two integration contracts in a national market of hundreds of MLSs should give rise to antitrust liability is unserious."
Zillow acquired ShowingTime for $500 million in 2021. In addition to scheduling tools, ShowingTime helps agents schedule photo sessions of listings and access interactive floor plans. In 2022, Zillow acquired Milwaukee-based VRX Media, a real estate marketing company that provides agents with professional real estate photos, virtual tours, drone photos and drone videos. The acquisition, for an undisclosed amount, was meant to strengthen ShowingTime.
Zillow in August acquired Aryeo, a platform for real estate photographers, for about $35 million. Zillow also houses Aryeo under ShowingTime.
Zillow, founded in 2004, offers a home and rentals search tool, mortgages and a platform for partner agents called Premier Agent. The company generated $529 million in revenue during the first quarter, up 13% year over year.
