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group of eight real estate agents from Nevada, California, Washington, Florida, New York, and Georgia have filed a class action lawsuit against Realtor.com's parent company Move, Inc., and the National Association of Realtors (NAR). The plaintiffs claim that Move sold them low-quality or "fake" leads, which they argue were not properly vetted or verified as coming from individuals who had any interest in purchasing real estate. They also claim that NAR was complicit in this scheme due to its relationship with Move and Realtor.com.

    The lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, where Move is headquartered, and also names News Corp, which owns Move, along with its subsidiaries Move Sales and OpCity. The plaintiffs are seeking to open the class up to agents nationwide who have purchased leads from Move over the last four years.

    In their complaint, the attorneys for the plaintiffs argue 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 had no interest in purchasing real estate. They claim that Move knew they could not verify the legitimacy or association of this information with an actual living human being, and deliberately sold fake leads along with other leads that were highly questionable or legitimate.

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

    The plaintiffs also named NAR as a defendant in the suit, alleging that the association provided cover for Move through its relationship in licensing the Realtor branding. They claim that NAR was aware of the scheme and complicit through its relationship with and reliance upon the other defendants to build its membership ranks.

    In response to these allegations, an NAR spokesperson stated: "NAR does not own or operate Move, Inc. We will address these false allegations in court." A Realtor.com spokesperson also denied the allegations, stating: "We don't intend to comment on pending litigation and will vigorously defend ourselves against all claims contained in the lawsuit."

    The plaintiffs argue 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. They 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.

    Move has been in the news recently as a plaintiff in another lawsuit, but as a defendant in this case. The company is suing CoStar for alleged theft of trade secrets, which 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.