Attorneys
for
REX
did
not
return

HousingWire’s
email
to
confirm
if
their
plaintiff
client
was
planning
to
file
a
writ,
but
the
application
for
an
extension
of
time
suggests
that
a
petition
is
in
the
works.

It’s
currently
unknown
exactly
which
decision
REX
would
appeal.
But
the
firm’s
initial
appeal
to
the

Ninth
Circuit
Court
of
Appeals
dealt
with
a
lower
court’s
summary
judgment
ruling
that
NAR
and
Zillow
did
not
break
antitrust
laws
when
NAR
promulgated
its

no-commingling
rule
and
Zillow
redesigned
its
website
in
order
to
follow
the
rule.

The
appeals
court

reaffirmed
the
lower
court’s
ruling
in
March
2025.
A
little
over
a
month
later,
the
appeal’s
court

denied
REX’s
request
for
a

rehearing
en
banc. 

REX’s
legal
saga

began
in
March
2021,
two
months
after
Zillow
began
moving
homes
not
listed
on
the
MLS
out
of
initial
user
search
results
and
onto
a
second
tab,
in
adherence
with
NAR’s
optional
no-commingling
rule. 

Zillow
has
maintained
that
it
does
not
support
the
rule,
but
that
it
was
forced
to
adopt
it
to
obtain
IDX
feeds
from
MLSs
that
had.
This
precipitated
the
two-tab
design
for
MLS
listings
and
“other
listings.”

In
May
2022,
REX

ceased
its
brokerage
operations.
A
little
over
a
year
later,
each
of
the
three
parties
involved
in
the
case
filed

motions
for
summary
judgment
on
either
the
entirety
of
the
lawsuit
or
portions
of
it.

Judge
Thomas
Zilly,
who
oversaw
the
case,

dismissed
REX’s
antitrust
claims
against
NAR
and
Zillow.
But
he
allowed
the
discount
brokerage’s

false
advertising
claim
under
the

Lanham
Act
—
along
with
a
claim
for
unfair
or
deceptive
trade
practices
under
the
state
of
Washington’s
Consumer
Protection
Act
—
to
stand.

At
a

trial
in
September
2023,
the
court
ruled
in
favor
of
Zillow
on
the
remaining
charges.
Roughly
six
weeks
later,
REX
filed
its
motion
for
a
new
trial.
In
the
request,
REX
argued
that
it
was
unfairly
prevented
from
presenting
testimony
about
agent
commissions
to
the
jury.

A
Seattle
jury
ultimately
found
that
REX
did
not
prove
Zillow
used
false
advertising
in
its
decision
to
put
non-MLS
listings
on
a
different
section
of
its
website.
It
also
found
that
Zillow
proved
its
defense
on
REX’s
second
claim
that
Zillow
acted
deceptively
and
unfairly.

REX

filed
its
appeal
in
February
2024
after
Zilly
denied
its
motion
for
a
new
trial.

Last
month,
NAR

repealed
its
optional
no-commingling
rule.
At
the
time,
NAR
said
the
decision
was
based
on
MLS
community
feedback
about
the
rule’s

declining
usage
and
relevance
in
local
marketplaces.