| Hearing on Zillow Ban Ends
as Compass Denounces Monopoly
Power But Decision Later
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book
Substack
SDNY
COURTHOUSE,
Nov 21 – The real estate
listing giant Zillow faces a
hearing this week in which
Compass seeks a preliminary
injunction against a policy
Zillow says is for
transparency.
A
Zillow spokesperson said,
"While Americans are
struggling to access and
afford housing, Compass wants
to hide available listings
from the public. Real estate
works when it's fair, equal,
open and transparent, so
Zillow is defending that
transparency — and we're not
backing down."
The irony
is that nearly every filing in
the case in the U.S. District
Court for the Southern
District of New York, which
Inner City Press closely
covers, is sealed.
Days before
the PI hearing sent for
November 18-21 before Judge
Jeannette A. Vargas, Zillow's
outside counsel at Wilson
Sonsini wrote in that
documents should not be shown,
as plaintiff's counsel at
Crowell & Moring request,
to Compass' CEO and CLO,
saying that "there is plainly
no First Amendment right to
access... unless and until the
documents are used in judicial
decision making."
Redfin,
which has a policy similar to
Zillow's, is in the case,
represented by Davis Wright
Tremaine.
On
November 20 Inner City Press
covered the hearing on Bluesky
and Threads (its main X is
still hacked without Support),
as Compass' antiturst expert
was on the stand:
Antitrust expert:
This is an expensive market to
try to enter or expand in.
Homes dot com tried and spent
but didn't move the needle.
Google and Yahoo decided it
was not feasible. Zillow has
the most powerful branding -
it can act as a barrier to
entry
On
November 21 the closing
arguments. Judge Vargas did
not seem convinced of the
Section 1 claim - she said it
seemed Redfin did not know of
Zillow's policy in advance -
but as to the policy itself...
More on Substack
here
Inner
City Press is
covering the
case.
It is Compass,
Inc. v. Zillow, Inc., et al.,
1:25-cv-5201 (Vargas)
More
(Nov 19) on
Substack here
More
(Nov 18) on
Substack here
More (Nov 17) on
Substack here
***
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