Jeffery Thut

20 South Utica Street, Waukegan, IL 60085

Judge slams door on class action vs Zillow; 'Zestimate' may be 'gimmick,' but not deception, fraud

By Jonathan Bilyk | Tuesday, May 8, 2018 @ 3:20pm

Saying plaintiffs had effectively pleaded themselves out of court, a Chicago federal judge has slammed the door on an attempted class action lawsuit accusing operators of real estate website Zillow of breaking state consumer fraud and deceptive practices laws by using their “Zestimates” – an online home value estimation tool – as a “marketing gimmick” to drive business to Zillow’s preferred real estate agents and undercut home sellers’ ability to sell their home for what they believe it should be worth.