Court Denies CoStar's Proposed Amicus in Zillow/MRED Case

CoStar's motion to file an amicus brief in Zillow's federal antitrust lawsuit against MRED and Compass has been rejected by the courts and will not be considered in the litigation process.

The brief, filed last week, was rejected out of hand by Judge John Tharp, but no reason was given.

A Zillow spokesperson said, "The narrative CoStar spun in its proposed amicus brief was irrelevant to the facts of this case and clearly just designed to drive a news cycle for the misinformation the brief contained."

The U.S. housing market is one of the most transparent in the world, and MLSs are a big reason why. That's why we support them. They play an important role in keeping the housing market fair and open, making it easier for buyers and their agents to see all the homes for sale, and for sellers and their agents to reach as many potential buyers as possible.

CoStar and Compass are making the same flawed argument: that pre-marketing and private marketing are the same thing. They are not, and the distinction matters enormously. Zillow Preview is pre-marketing — publicly visible for any buyer to see it, save it and connect with the listing agent directly for free. No buyer is required to work with any specific brokerage to access it. Compass Private Exclusives are pay-to-play private marketing. Those listings are hidden from buyers unless they work with a Compass agent. The explicit purpose is to route listings through Compass's own network before — or instead of — making them available to the public. Calling those the same thing is a word game designed to muddy a clear distinction, and it is exactly the kind of conflation that harms buyers and sellers when it goes unchallenged."

MRED is subject to a temporary order requiring it to continue supplying Zillow with a listing feed, while Zillow is currently prohibited from banning any MRED listings from its site.