That Blanche Evan’s article had us thinking again. While public data on your home is unlikely to be controllable, what if an owner choses not to have Zillow attach a public Zestimate tag on their property for all to see?
Let’s say the owner is selling and the Zestimate is grossly inaccurate (for whatever reason) and the seller does not want to wait for Zillow to make the correction? Can an owner opt-out of the Zestimate? Instead of the “Do Not Call” list, you would register on the “Do Not Zillow” list. Do owners have any choice here?
Will Zillow honor an owner’s “UnZestimate My Home” request? We checked the Zillow question section and the answer is unclear. Naturally, they don’t have to delete public data. But is a Zestimate public information or a proprietary valuation created by Zillow “using” public information? Factual public data and a calculated valuation don’t seem to be in the same class of fruit. We can see the property sharks (lawyers) all over this one–Interference with prospective economic advantage, false advertising, house libel (we made this up).
Lest we be accused of Zillow bashing, let our position be clear. We support a public’s right to access to information, including Zillow’s, to use as they see fit. We also support a property owner’s right to choose when it comes to their most valuable asset. If I’m selling my house for one price, I may not want you to put your grossly inaccurate price tag on it. It’s akin to mislabeling. That’s just our opinion folks.
Does a seller really want two different public price tags on their property?
Technorati Tags: zillow, unzillowable, zestimate, property, home, owners, opt-out real estate, sellsius
