Zillow Group was served a second lawsuit for allegedly violating a New York State antitrust law. The suit accuses Zillow of using its advertising program Premier Agent of redirecting homebuyers away from the properties’ listing agents.
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The lawsuit was filed in the Southern District of New York by the same Long Island lawyer, Spencer Sheehan, that sued Trulia for the same allegations and using the same references as in the initial suit against Zillow, Trulia’s parent company. Sheehan describes the practices as “unfair and deceptive”.
The lawsuit states that Premier Agent is “the analog equivalent to buying a billboard to advertise another real estate broker’s listing but with the contact information of [Premier Agents].” The previously-filed suit had called the actions the “equivalent of buying a billboard to advertise the listing of another real estate broker and including a picture of the property and telephone number for prospective buyers to call.”
The lead plaintiff is Queens-based real estate agent Max Brizer or R New York real estate firm. Per the suit, “Plaintiff Brizer has been a listing agent for various properties on defendant’s website and lost money due to Premier Agents who paid defendant to be on his listings.”
The new class-action lawsuit includes “all real estate brokers and real estate sales agents in New York, Pennsylvania and States where defendant conducts business.” The previous class-action suit only included “all real estate brokers in New York.” It also alleges that Premier Agent caused “consumer confusion and frustration” that could lead customers to enter into dual agency transactions without knowing so.
“The claims made in this suit are a replica of the meritless claims made a few weeks ago by the same lawyers, who use the same baseless and unsupported attacks against us,” Viet Shelton, Zillow spokesperson, told Inman.
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