None of the companies named in the April 16 lawsuit have filed formal a response to the complaint, and none would comment to Inman News. The companies named in the lawsuit provide automated valuation model (AVM) services to businesses or consumers — computer-generated property value estimates that typically rely on a property’s unique characteristics, public property records and other market statistics.
A spokeswoman for Zillow — a site that became one of the Internet’s most popular real estate portals by offering instant, free property “Zestimates” to consumers — said the company was aware of the lawsuit, and “has no plans to change any aspect of our business as a result of this complaint.” Realizing that public housing records are made public, many mortgage insiders think that the Mortgage Giant is grasping at straws.