Judge denies Zillow’s motion to dismiss antitrust lawsuit

An antitrust lawsuit claiming that Zillow created an illegal tying arrangement between its marketing platform and Zillow Home Loans has been allowed to continue. In a ruling on Tuesday, Judge James Robart of U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington denied Zillow’s motion to dismiss the Dupuis suit, allowing the plaintiffs’ antitrust, consumer-protection and unjust-enrichment claims to move forward. The lawsuit was filed in January by Stephanie Dupuis, the team leader and owner of a Kitsap County-based real estate team. In the suit, the plaintiffs claimed that Zillow is a “monopoly power” and agents like Dupuis feel it is “impossible to do business” without Zillow being involved in at least part of their business. It is due to this that Dupuis said she and her team felt like they needed to get into the Zillow ecosystem, signing an agreement to become a Preferred Agent. Notable in the ruling is that the plaintiffs’ monopoly claims survived, with the judge noting Zillow’s referral commission of 35%-40%, which the plaintiffs claim is above the market average of 20%-25%, as potential evidence of Zillow’s ability to leverage its position in the home-search ecosystem. Ad...