Utah MLS dismissed from Homie’s antitrust lawsuit

Homie Technologies’ bombshell antitrust lawsuit has one fewer defendant. On Friday, the brokerage notified the court that it was voluntarily dismissing Wasatch Front Regional MLS, which does business as UtahRealEstate.com, from the suit.

But the MLS defendant was dismissed without prejudice, which means Homie could refile its suit against UtahRealEstate.com.

Homie filed the suit in mid-August. It named UtahRealEstate.com, the National Association of Realtors (NAR), Anywhere Real Estate, Keller Williams Realty, HomeServices of America and RE/MAX as defendants. So far, the Utah-based MLS is the only defendant to be dismissed.

In the suit, Homie claims it was harmed by the anticompetitive practices of NAR and the brokerage defendants, noting that it filed the suit to “recover the damages … suffered as an excluded competitor foreclosed by the Defendants’ conduct from effective competition in the relevant market.”

As a flat-fee brokerage, Homie charged sellers a flat fee to list their property on the MLS. While Homie sellers typically offered buyer agent compensation, the firm said these amounts were usually lower compared to offers by sellers working with traditional brokers. Due to this, Homie alleges that local brokers and agents boycotted Homie and its listings, contributing to some of its financial distress.

UtahRealEstate.com and Homie did not return requests for comment.