Federal court denies Zillow injunction, sends MRED claims to arbitration

A federal court denied Zillow Group’s request for a preliminary injunction in its dispute with Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED) and ordered Zillow’s claims against the MLS into private arbitration, according to statements from the parties. The Sept. 15 ruling, issued in federal court in Illinois, is an early procedural decision in a larger antitrust lawsuit Zillow filed against the Chicagoland-based MLS and Compass International Holdings. The case centers on MRED’s “objective criteria” rules and a data-sharing arrangement involving Compass agents, but it will now largely move behind closed doors thanks to Tuesday’s ruling. The ruling comes a little over two months after a two-day hearing regarding Zillow’s preliminary injunction motion. In its now denied motion, Zillow asked the court to prevent MRED from shutting off the listing data feed it sends to Zillow. In mid-May, MRED did shut off the listing feed for nearly two days after it claimed Zillow refused to cure what MRED called a “material breach” of its license agreements. The feed was restored through a temporary restraining order, which will now be lifted after the court granted MRED’s motion to compel arbitration. MRED filed ...