Zillow, MLSs reach settlement in ShowingTime lawsuit
The home search giant filed a lawsuit last December over the removal of its showing platform in the ARMLS and Metro MLS regions.
A settlement has been reached between Zillow and three multiple listing service organizations in a lawsuit involving the company's ShowingTime product.
A court document filed on June 13 stated that Zillow Group and the defendants — Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service, Wisconsin's Metro Multiple Listing Service, and MLS Aligned, an MLS collaboration which developed Aligned Showings — have reached an agreement in principle that will result in the dismissal of claims once finalized.
In December, Zillow filed a lawsuit alleging that plans to remove ShowingTime from ARMLS and Metro MLS — and replace it with the proprietary Aligned Showings platform — effectively created a monopoly in those regions.
The other member MLSs 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.
Case background: Zillow alleged that rather than competing on the merits, MLS Aligned conspired to remove the ShowingTime integration in favor of Aligned Showings, noting that Zillow offered ShowingTime access for free in those markets.
Zillow Group "made numerous attempts to convince these two MLSs to keep the seamless ShowingTime integration active as an additional option for their agent members, as other MLSs in the consortium have done," said Chief Industry Development Officer Errol Samuelson in a blog post, but 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 the two MLSs said adding a new management platform, Aligned Showings, actually increases competition in the marketplace.
"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," the filing stated.
Settlement timing: The court document said the agreement is substantially complete and is expected to be finalized in about a month. The terms of the settlement were not included in the June 13 filing.
Real Estate News reached out to Zillow and ARMLS for details; both said they have no further comment while the settlement is being finalized.