Home listing search website Zillow has been hit with an antitrust suit filed by an Austin-based real estate tech broker, charging that the company harmed its business and the plight of homeowners and sellers alike based on the way it lists some properties.

In an antitrust suit filed by former aides to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, Rex Listings and others that don’t list with a realtor contend they are now only found on an "other listings" tab on the Zillow website.

While Zillow officials insist they are complying with National Association of Realtors (NAR) rules that call for the separation of agent-listed homes from those not represented by agents, REX general counsel Michael Toth, former special prosecutor to Paxton, argues that the ratio of “agent listings” was already 9:1 when Zillow started separating the two earlier this year. 

With Toth further contending that ratio is now as high as 100:1 in certain instances, NAR is also named as a defendant. As part of his legal team, Roth has added former AG colleagues Darren McCarty and former Texas Solicitor General Scott Keller. Both Toth and McCarty also worked on a Texas antitrust suit against Google while still in Paxton’s office.

Rex argues its approach, which relies on data in putting sellers and potential buyers in the same room, lowers commission fees from 6% to nearly 2%.

“Consumers are not seeing these homes,” Toth added. “American homebuyers deserve better. What’s happened on Zillow is the digitalization of a cartel. We cut our teeth on Google and are feasting on Zillow's decision to make collusion a business model. The days of brazen Big Tech harm to consumers are numbered."

With REX dismissing Zillow’s claims as “without merit” and vowing to continue to "empower real estate consumers," a federal judge last month denied Zillow’s motion to dismiss while also shutting down REX’s injunction to move its listings out of the "other listings" tab.