Earlier this week, New Jersey broker, EJ MGT LLC filed a lawsuit accusing Zillow of concealing Zestimates on specific listings, implying that paying partners are given an unfair advantage in the marketplace. The suit acknowledges that Zestimates appear somewhere on all listing pages, but alleges that only certain brokerage listings do not have the Zestimate listed prominently under the listing price.
Court documents offer screenshots of listing pages with and without Zestimates as well as documentation of communication with Zillow Group staff explaining that only “certain brokers” receive “certain treatment.”
But not so fast.
Zillow points out that Zestimates simply appear on different parts of the page for different listings.
Emily Heffter, Sr. Manager of Public Relations at Zillow Group tells The Real Daily, “despite the claim in the suit, no listings on Zillow are exempt from having a Zestimate. Some listings have the Zestimate in a different place on the page.”
The lawsuit criticizes the accuracy of Zestimates, a critique the company is quite used to and typically responds by reminding people that they are not appraisals, and not always accurate across the board (some states are non-disclosure states, for example, so home sales data flows differently depending on location).
Heffter reaffirms just that, noting that “the Zestimate is not an appraisal. It’s an estimate created by a sophisticated machine-learning process, and it’s meant to be used as a starting point in determining a home’s value. Zillow is very transparent about its accuracy, and we [sic] our median error rate is about 4.5 percent.”
Typically, in times of active litigation, Zillow and other companies refrain from commenting. Not this time.
Zillow Group’s official statement: “We believe the claims in this case are without merit. The Zestimate is intended to be a starting point for determining a home’s value, which is why we provide it, for free, on more than 100 million homes across the country. As a company, we always seek to create advertising products that add value for consumers and advertisers, and we intend to vigorously defend ourselves against this lawsuit.”
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