Realtor®.com’s parent company has dropped a long-running and acrimonious lawsuit against rival CoStar, according to a court filing today, with a spokesperson saying the company “has chosen to settle” with an ex-employee who was accused of stealing data after joining Homes.com.
James Kaminsky, a former writer and editor for Realtor.com who was laid off in January 2024 and subsequently joined Homes.com, allegedly accessed “sensitive” data and files owned by his former employer, which last July sparked a lawsuit from Move, Inc., which owns Realtor.com.
A back-and-forth both in the courtroom and in the media underscored a larger battle between the two companies, who have sparred over traffic data and ad campaigns as well.
According to a Realtor.com spokesperson, Kaminsky is no longer employed by CoStar.
“Realtor.com has chosen to settle with our ex-employee, who is no longer an employee of CoStar. Given that he is no longer employed by CoStar and we have a settlement in place, we have chosen to dismiss our trade secrets lawsuit against CoStar because the risk of additional misuse has been mitigated,” the spokesperson wrote.
A CoStar spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Kaminsky could not immediately be reached for comment, and the details of the settlement were not immediately disclosed.
The dismissal of the lawsuit was with prejudice, meaning the claims cannot be re-filed. Both sides were deep in the discovery process, with a trial scheduled for later this year.
The lawsuit centered on a handful of files and Realtor.com proprietary documents that Kaminsky admittedly accessed after leaving the company. According to CoStar and Kaminsky, his purpose was to bolster his portfolio and collect personal information after being abruptly laid off. Move, Inc. claimed the files contained competitively sensitive information that Kaminsky could have shared to advantage Homes.com as a competitor to Realtor.com.
After a number of court maneuvers and sharp accusations from each side’s lawyers, the lawsuit is over, even as the two companies continue to seek a competitive advantage in the “portal wars”—which recently saw a significant shift in power dynamics as Rocket Companies acquired Redfin.
CoStar also recently saw a shakeup on its board, seemingly centered around Homes.com after the portal has been somewhat slow in winding up its sales team.
“Our commitment to safeguarding our trade secrets remains unwavering and uncompromising,” the Realtor.com spokesperson said.