Two multiple listing services being sued by Seattle-based Zillow Group Inc. (Nasdaq: ZG) on antitrust law on Tuesday filed a motion to dismiss the case.
Phoenix-area Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service (ARMLS) and Milwaukee-area Metro MLS allege Zillow has filed the lawsuit because the real estate tech company is threatened by more competition. In the motion, ARMLS and Metro MLS said Zillow's claims "are directly at odds with the premise of the antitrust laws and, if successful, would subvert them."
"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 ARMLS wrote in the motion, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona.
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Zillow first filed its antitrust case in December against the two MLSs plus the consortium MLS Aligned, alleging that they are trying to stop agents from using Zillow's platform ShowingTime, which allows agents to schedule and manage listings. MLS Aligned formed in 2021, after which the consortium acquired and rebranded another showing-management platform, Aligned Showings.
Zillow alleges MLS Aligned, which has seven member MLSs, tried steering agents toward Aligned Showings by making it the default setting and disparaging ShowingTime. Zillow's lawsuit alleges the Phoenix and Milwaukee MLSs then decided to remove ShowingTime from their member portals.
ARMLS removed ShowingTime in December, and Metro MLS is doing the same this month. None of the other five MLSs in the consortium are named as defendants in the lawsuit.
"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," ARMLS and Metro MLS said in the motion to dismiss.
Zillow didn't provide additional comment on the motion to dismiss.
Zillow acquired ShowingTime in 2021 for $500 million, giving the company access to ShowingTime's scheduling for agents, scheduling for photo shoots of listings and interactive floor plans. In December 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.
Last August, Zillow acquired Aryeo for around $35 million. Aryeo, a platform for real estate photographers, is also housed under ShowingTime.
Founded in 2004, Zillow offers a home and rentals search tool, mortgages and a platform for partner agents called Premier Agent. The company generated $1.9 billion in revenue last year, down 1% from 2022.
When Zillow first filed the lawsuit, Errol Samuelson, Zillow's chief industry development officer, wrote in a blog posted to Zillow's website that the company had tried to convince Metro MLS and ARMLS to keep the ShowingTime integration available for member agents.
"The MLSs declined all offered alternatives and resolutions, leaving their agent members with no choice, and giving Aligned Showings an effective monopoly in their regions," Samuelson wrote.
