Move accused of selling ‘fake leads’ in class action lawsuit 

A group of real estate agents filed a class action lawsuit late last week against Realtor.com parent company Move, Inc. and the National Association of Realtors that centers around Move's lead generation products. 

Specifically, the plaintiffs allege in the complaint that Move participated in "unlawfully bundling" low quality or "fake" leads and then sold them to agents. They also claim that NAR was complicit due to its association with the other defendants. 

The plaintiffs — eight agents from the states of Nevada, California, Washington, Florida, New York and Georgia — are seeking to open the class up to agents nationwide who have purchased leads from Move over the last four years. The suit was filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court where Move is headquartered, and also names News Corp, which owns Move, along with subsidiaries Move Sales and OpCity.

Agents take issue with 'fake' leads: In the complaint, attorneys for the plaintiffs allege that a significant number of Move's leads were not properly vetted or even leads at all, but rather information that the company farmed from individuals "who have no interest in purchasing real estate." 

"In many cases, Defendants knew they could not verify that the personally identifying information sold to Plaintiffs is even legitimate or truly associated with an actual, living human being," the complaint reads. "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."

Plaintiffs also took issue with qualifiers such as "exclusive" leads, which they allege were sold to other agents, arguing that upward of half of the leads that plaintiffs purchased through Move brands were "fake" leads.

Why NAR is listed as a defendant: The plaintiffs also named the National Association of Realtors in the suit. While Move and Realtor.com operate independently of NAR, the plaintiffs accuse NAR of providing cover for Move through its relationship in licensing the Realtor branding. 

"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," the complaint reads. "NAR allows and contributes to its affiliation with its co-defendants to act as a broad endorsement of the conduct alleged herein so that the Plaintiffs and each member of the prospective class trusted and relied upon NAR's affiliation with the other Defendants."

In a statement to Real Estate News, an NAR spokesperson offered this response: "NAR does not own or operate Move, Inc. We will address these false allegations in court."

A Realtor.com spokesperson also denied the allegations: "We don't intend to comment on pending litigation and will vigorously defend ourselves against all claims contained in the lawsuit."

Who the lawsuit affects: The plaintiffs allege that the "unlawful conduct" is "so widespread that it has caused harm to the goodwill of each prospective class member and the residential real estate agency (and brokerage) business as a whole." 

Additionally, the plaintiffs are asking to open the class to "all real estate agents within the United States" who purchased "fake leads" from Move in the last four years. 

Neither representatives from Move nor from the plaintiffs' legal counsel were immediately available for comment.

Other litigation: Move has made headlines as a party in another recent suit, but as a plaintiff. The company is suing CoStar for alleged theft of trade secrets (something CoStar CEO Andy Florance referred to as "laughable.")

Meanwhile, NAR has been hit with two lawsuits from within the industry in recent weeks, one filed by agents challenging mandatory membership rules, and another filed by flat-fee brokerage Homie alleging anticompetitive practices and steering.