Weekly Real Estate News
A federal appeals court has refused to reconsider its dismissal of an appeal in the proposed class action accusing Realtor.com operator Move Inc. and related companies of selling real estate agents allegedly fake or deficient leads.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit denied the plaintiffs’ petition for rehearing en banc Thursday, leaving intact an August ruling that dismissed their appeal for lack of appellate jurisdiction. The result leaves the district court’s order sending the agents’ claims against Move to private arbitration in place.
The underlying allegations have not been decided on their merits. Move has denied wrongdoing.
Appeal ends without a ruling on the lead allegations
The dispute stems from a 2024 lawsuit brought by real estate agents who alleged that leads purchased through Realtor.com and related services were fake, nonexistent or otherwise failed to match what they said had been promised.
In March 2025, U.S. District Judge Stanley Blumenfeld Jr. ordered the agents’ claims against Move into arbitration and dismissed the case without prejudice. The plaintiffs appealed, arguing in part that they had never agreed to the arbitration provision.
But the Ninth Circuit did not reach that contract question. In its Aug. 13 memorandum, the three-judge panel concluded that the district court did not intend to enter a final decision ending the case because the dismissal was intended to function like a stay while arbitration proceeded. Without a final appealable decision, the panel said it lacked appellate jurisdiction.
The agents then sought rehearing. According to the court’s Sept. 17 order, Judges Lucy Koh and Holly Thomas voted to deny rehearing, Judge Susan Graber recommended denial, and no Ninth Circuit judge requested a vote on whether the full court should rehear the case.
Private arbitration remains the next venue
The latest order means the agents cannot use this appeal to challenge the arbitration ruling. Their claims against Move now remain headed to private arbitration unless another procedural development changes the course of the dispute.
That distinction matters for the real estate industry. The Ninth Circuit did not decide whether the plaintiffs’ allegations about Realtor.com leads are true, nor did it decide the ultimate enforceability arguments on their merits. The appellate ruling is procedural.
The plaintiffs have alleged that they entered agreements over the phone to purchase leads and that arbitration language appeared later in online terms referenced in confirmation emails. They contend they never affirmatively accepted those later terms. Move has disputed the plaintiffs’ claims and defended the arbitration process.
Why the case matters to agents
Lead generation is a significant expense for many real estate professionals, and the case has drawn attention to how lead providers describe their products, how agents enter those agreements and what contractual terms govern disputes.
The rehearing denial does not resolve those broader questions. It does, however, close the current Ninth Circuit challenge and keeps the central dispute out of public federal-court litigation for now as the parties move toward arbitration.
