Zillow Quietly Settles Suit Claiming Its Portal "Masked Listings"

Zillow has quietly settled a lawsuit brought by a New York City broker who accused its local portal StreetEasy of charging fees to list rental properties that were not always being displayed to users.

The lawsuit, filed in February by George T. Spyridakis, an associate broker with eXp, alleged that StreetEasy's listing policies unfairly masked many of his rental ads, despite the platform charging $7 per listing per day. Spyridakis claimed to have listed over 250 properties on StreetEasy and sought damages exceeding $5 million.

According to court filings this week, both parties have now reached a settlement. “In order to avoid further delay, uncertainty, inconvenience, and expense of continued litigation of the disputed claims, and as a result of a mutual desire to settle their disputes, the Parties have reached a full and final settlement agreement,” the filing stated. The judge overseeing the case approved the dismissal on Wednesday.

StreetEasy declined to comment on the resolution and, throughout the case, denied the broker’s allegations.

The suit focused on StreetEasy’s rental listing policy, which allows only a single copy of a rental unit to be listed at any one time. The policy, designed to reduce duplicate listings and confusion, may disadvantage brokers who are not designated as the ‘official’ listing source—even if they’ve paid to promote the property.