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NAR Legal Action Committee Funds Four Cases

November 19, 2014

Legal Action Committee Funding

Below are summaries of the case funding recommendations made by NAR's Legal Action Committee, which were subsequently approved by the Board of Directors at the 2014 Realtors® Convention and Expo, held in New Orleans, LA, during November 2014.

NAR provided funding of $295,000 in four cases for which assistance was requested, as follows:

  1. Regional Multiple Listing Service of Minnesota, Inc. d/b/a NorthstarMLS v. American Home Realty Network, Inc. (MN).  Regional Multiple Listing Service of Minnesota, Inc. (RMLS) sued American Home Realty Network, Inc. (AHRN) for copyright infringement of RMLS listing data, which appeared on AHRN's "Neighborcity.com" website without a license or other permission from RMLS.  AHRN filed a counterclaim alleging that RMLS and Edina Realty violated the antitrust laws by conspiring with NAR and others to not provide listing data to AHRN or adversely affecting AHRN in other ways.  The case has now settled and the antitrust counterclaim dismissed.  Edina Realty is seeking reimbursement for its costs in defending against the counterclaim.
  2. Metropolitan Regional Information System, Inc.  v. American Home Realty Network, Inc. (MD). Metropolitan Regional Information System, Inc.  (MRIS) sued American Home Realty Network, Inc. (AHRN) for copyright infringement of MRIS listing data, which appeared on AHRN's "Neighborcity.com" website without a license or other permission from MRIS.  AHRN filed a counterclaim alleging that MRIS and NAR violated the antitrust laws by conspiring to not provide listing data to AHRN or adversely affecting AHRN in other ways.  MRIS has reached a favorable settlement of its copyright infringement claim, and the court has entered judgment in favor of MRIS on the antitrust counterclaim. MRIS is now seeking reimbursement of its costs incurred during the litigation.
  3. Property Disclosure Technologies, LLC v. JB Goodwin REALTORS® (TX). JB Goodwin REALTORS® was sued by Property Disclosure Technologies, LLC for patent infringement. The lawsuit alleges that the patents cover the process of querying a database for properties listed for sale that meet certain user-specified criteria. The court had consolidated this case with 11 other real estate defendants, and all of the parties have settled except for JB Goodwin and Winans.  JB Goodwin seeks financial support to aid in its defense against the claims.
  4. Property Disclosure Technologies, LLC v. Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, LLC and  Winans, Inc. (TX). Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, LLC and Winans, Inc. (Winans) was sued by Property Disclosure Technologies, LLC for patent infringement. The lawsuit alleges that the patents cover the process of querying a database for properties listed for sale that meet certain user-specified criteria. The court had consolidated this case with 11 other real estate defendants, and all of the parties have settled except for JB Goodwin and Winans.  Winans seeks funds to defend against the infringement claims and also to seek invalidation of the patents by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office.

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