On Tuesday, New York-based Dakis Group and its broker, George T. Spyridakis, filed a class-action lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Seattle against Zillow. The suit alleges that Zillow charges a daily fee to post a listing on its StreetEasy platform, but it then masks “or otherwise removes” it from public view while still charging brokers the daily fee.
According to the complaint, Spyridakis has listed more than 250 properties for rent or sale on StreetEasy. For his rental listings, Spyridakis claims he was charged $7 per day in exchange for displaying the listing agent’s information alongside the listings. But the suit also claims that “Zillow allows multiple listing Realtors to list the same property for rent at the same time on its StreetEasy platform, charging each listing Realtor $7.00 per day.”
“In the case of multiple realtors listing the same rental, Zillow’s practice and procedure is to display only the most recent listing realtor, masking or otherwise removing from public view all prior listing realtors, while continuing to charge the prior listing realtor the $7.00 per day fee for the listing,” the complaint states.
Spyridakis claims that his rental listings have been “masked or otherwise removed from public view due to this practice on numerous occasions,” causing himself to lose business.
The suit is seeking class-action status for a damages class, along with a declaratory and injunctive relief class. The damages class includes all persons who, within the time frame relevant to the complaint, listed a property for sale or rent on StreetEasy in exchange for paying a daily rate and had their listing masked, despite Zillow continuing to charge them a daily rate.
The declaratory and injunctive relief class consists of all persons who “previously listed, are presently listing, or in the future intend to list, a property for sale or rent on Zillow’s StreetEasy platform, in exchange for payment of a daily rate.” The suit also claims that Zillow’s actions constituted a breach of contract that resulted in the company being unjustly enriched.
The plaintiff is demanding a jury trial and asking the court for damages, disgorgement of any profits Zillow obtained through the alleged conduct, and for a permanent order enjoining Zillow from engaging in the alleged conduct in the future.
Zillow did not return HousingWire‘s request for comment.
