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Zillow and the National Association of Realtors® scored another court victory against REX, a low-fee brokerage that filed a lawsuit four years ago over what it called deceptive practices to conceal non-MLS listings on Zillow's website.
On Mar. 3, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a U.S. District Court ruling against Real Estate Exchange, more commonly known as REX. The appeals court heard arguments from REX, Zillow, NAR and the U.S. Department of Justice in Honolulu on Feb. 13.
REX argued that NAR's no-commingling rule — which says MLS listings must be displayed separately from non-MLS listings — was an anticompetitive scheme.
The appeals court agreed with the district court that the no-commingling rule did not represent a concerted effort by separate decisionmakers to hurt REX. Each MLS chose whether to adopt the rule, the court said, noting that nearly a third did not — evidence that it was optional.
In a statement following the ruling, NAR said the appeals court emphasized what the association has said from the beginning: The no-commingling rule never constituted an antitrust violation.
"The rule is optional, leaving MLSs the choice whether to adopt it, and, in fact, 29% chose not to. We are pleased to put this meritless lawsuit behind us and maintain our focus on delivering value for our membership," NAR said in a statement.