NeighborCity Fires Back Against MLS Lawsuits

SAN FRANCISCO, May 21, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- In response to the recent lawsuit alleging copyright infringement filed against the owner and operator of NeighborCity, American Home Realty Network, Inc. (AHRN), by the Metropolitan Regional Information Systems (MRIS), AHRN has opposed MLS's motion for prelim injunction on the basis of jurisdiction and has posed multiple challenges to MLS's alleged copyright.

AHRN is opposing that motion on several grounds, including the fact that there is no actual injury alleged by MRIS and that in fact, MRIS has not suffered and will not suffer any injury as a result of the alleged infringing activities, as well as the fact that the infringement claims are deficient because they do not allege, and cannot allege, the necessary elements to enable MRIS to prevail in this action.  AHRN is also raising a defense of "misuse of copyright," on the grounds that MRIS, in concert with other MLS organizations nationwide, as well as their national organization, NAR, has engaged in activity amounting to a horizontal boycott against AHRN in violation of state and federal anti-trust laws.

In commenting on this lawsuit, Jonathan Cardella, CEO of AHRN, stated:

"We believe that this lawsuit, as well as the case recently filed against us in Minnesota, is a concerted response by the MLS fraternity to attempt to destroy what they perceive to be a threat to their long-held monopoly on the manner in which the real estate business in general is conducted.  With the National Association of Realtors (NAR) supporting the MLS by paying its legal bills, MLS refuses to recognize that the public interest lies with competition, and by virtue of industry-wide participation and control over a critically important input, MLS joint ventures have market power in almost every relevant market.  Online real-estate companies with innovative, Internet-based business models present a competitive challenge to brokers who provide only traditional methods, and we believe that they have decided to use litigation as a tool to try to drive AHRN out of business.  We are firmly committed to defending our business model and to demonstrate, through our counter-claims for violation of the anti-trust and unfair competition laws, that these organizations have long operated against the interests of consumers."

About NeighborCity

NeighborCity makes the residential real estate market more transparent by giving home buyers and sellers the information they need to make intelligent real estate decisions. Through its AgentMatch service, it rates virtually every real estate agent in the country based on performance and quickly connects consumers to the agents best suited to them. 

For more information please visit http://www.neighborcity.com/

NeighborCity and AgentMatch are registered trademarks NeighborCity, Inc. All other trademarks and product names are the property of their respective companies.

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FortyThree, Inc.
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SOURCE NeighborCity