Key Details:
- On Friday, August 23, eight Realtors filed a lawsuit against Realtor.com’s parent company, Move.
- The complaint alleges fake leads were sold through Realtor.com, ListHub and UpNest.
A new class action lawsuit has been filed in the real estate industry against Move, Inc., the parent company of Realtor.com, along with its subsidiaries and the National Association of Realtors (NAR).
Eight real estate agents from six states (California, Nevada, Washington, Florida, Georgia and New York) filed the lawsuit against Move in the Los Angeles Superior Court.
The lawsuit alleges that Move engaged in fraudulent practices by selling “fake” leads to real estate agents through the following Move Network sites: Realtor.com, ListHub and UpNest.
Plaintiffs claim that NAR was complicit in the scheme due to its close association with Realtor.com and Move. Additional defendants named in the complaint include:
- News Corporation (News Corp.), which owns and operates Move
- OpCity, a subsidiary of Move and News Corp.
Below are the key details of the complaint.
Key Allegations
The lawsuit against Move and additional defendants is rooted in several key allegations. These include:
Fraudulent Lead Sales
Plaintiffs allege that Move engaged in “unlawfully bundling” and selling low-quality or fake leads to real estate agents.
The leads were purportedly derived from individuals with no interest in purchasing real estate, and in some instances, leads were not associated with any “actual living human being.”
The complaint states,
“Defendants failed and refused to take any action to vet, legitimize and/or confirm the identity of these so-called ‘leads’ and deliberately sold fake and false leads along with other leads which ranged from highly questionable to legitimate.”
Misrepresentation of Exclusivity
The complaint also claims that Move misled agents by offering “exclusive” leads that were, instead, sold to multiple agents.
From the complaint:
“Defendants further misled, defrauded and intentionally deceived each of the Plaintiffs (and each potential member of the class) by representing that by paying subscription fees, enhanced subscription fees and other payments; each such real estate agent was obtaining specific benefits which had a high likelihood to generate business and clients for each such real estate agent.”
Refusal of Refunds
The plaintiffs also allege that when they sought refunds or remedies for the fraudulent leads, Move either denied the requests, offered credits for additional leads, or suggested purchasing higher-tier subscriptions to obtain better quality leads.
“Each such Plaintiff complained about the Fake Leads and sought refund(s) and/or partial refunds from the Defendants. However, the Defendants then would engage in the Attrition Program (which included showing or reciting the Fraudulent Terms to each such Plaintiff) and asserting that each such Plaintiff was not entitled to any such relief.”
NAR’s Complicity
The plaintiffs accuse NAR of aiding the fraudulent activities of Move by leveraging its relationship with Realtor.com to build its membership.
“NAR is (and at all times was) independently and intimately aware of the Scheme and complicit therein through NAR’s relationship with and reliance upon the other Defendants to build its membership ranks.”
They also argue that NAR’s endorsement and affiliation with Realtor.com led them to trust and rely on the quality of the leads, resulting in significant financial losses.
NAR has denied the allegations.
Seeking Class Action Status
The plaintiffs seek to extend the class action to include all real estate agents in the U.S. who purchased leads from Move over the past four years. They are seeking damages equal to the amount spent on these leads, as well as punitive and exemplary damages.
Read the full complaint below and stay tuned for more details.
