Zillow, ShowingTime, and the defendants—private regional databases where real estate brokers list information about properties for other brokers to view—agreed to toss the case in court filings on Thursday, asking Judge Michael T. Liburdi of the US District Court for the District of Arizona to toss the case.
The ShowingTime software platform, which Zillow Group owns, works with MLSs to help agents, homeowners, and prospective buyers coordinate to book property tours.
Zillow alleged in a December complaint that starting in 2021, Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service Inc. and Mulitiple Listing Service Inc. coordinated to buy and run a different messaging and showing platform, which they renamed Aligned Showings.
The move was an attempt to force ShowingTime out of use on MLSs, where almost 90% of sellers list their homes, Zillow alleged. The two defendants are part of an organization called MLS Aligned LLC, which was also named as a defendant.
The organizations removed ShowingTime’s integration into their member portal and coordinated to boycott ShowingTime to monopolize the showing management platform markets, according to the complaint.
The MLSs moved to dismiss the complaint for failure to state a claim, writing that “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 parties were set for a hearing on the motion next week.
Settlement documentation should be complete in a month, according to the Thursday court filings.
Osborn Maledon, P.A. and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, P.C. represent Zillow Group Inc. and ShowingTime.com, LLC. Quarles & Brady LLP represents Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service Inc and Multiple Listing Service Inc. Snell & Wilmer LLP represents MLS Aligned LLC.
The case is Zillow Group Inc. v. Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service Inc., D. Ariz., No. 2:23-cv-02701, 6/13/24.
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