Zillow faces securities class action over Zillow Offers wind-down
Zillow Group, Inc. is accused of making false and misleading statements to investors about its Zillow Offers home-flipping business. The company allegedly failed to disclose that its forecasting algorithm was unable to predict home prices accurately, leading to a $304 million inventory write-down and a decision to wind down the business. Investors who bought shares between February 10 and November 2, 2021, suffered losses when the stock price dropped after the announcement. A class action lawsuit has been filed in Washington federal court.
- Company involved
- Zillow Group, Inc.
- AI system involved
- Zillow Offers
10 source articles · read the reporting →
Joppa residents raise concerns after data center built near homes without community notice - WFAA
A data center was built near homes in Joppa without community notice.
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Noise lawsuit is latest in legal wave hitting data center operations - Facilities Dive
The data center emitted a low-frequency hum that reduced quality of life and property values for nearby residents.
- Company involved
- Microsoft
- AI system involved
- Fairwater data center
1 source article · read the reporting →
DataOne asks court to toss noise lawsuit over Vineland data center - Courier-Post
The data center generated excessive and intrusive noise affecting neighbors in East Vineland.
- Company involved
- DataOne USA LLC
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She Lives in America’s Data Center Capital. Her Insane Bills Tell the Story. - Gadget Review
Data centers' electricity and water consumption raised utility bills for local residents.
- Company involved
- Dominion Energy
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Residents raise noise concerns over Amazon data centers - Yahoo
The data center's operations caused noise that disturbed nearby residents.
- Company involved
- Amazon
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SpaceXAI offering to buy homes affected by noise in Southaven - DeSoto Times-Tribune
The power plant's operation generated constant noise that affected nearby residents' quality of life, health, and property values.
- Company involved
- SpaceXAI
1 source article · read the reporting →
Microsoft agrees to $2.5M settlement over Leesburg Data Center emissions - WFXRtv
During a power outage caused by substation failure, the Leesburg Data Center operated 62 emergency engines that exceeded permitted emissions limits for NOx, CO, VOC, PM10, and PM2.5, affecting air quality for nearby residents.
- Company involved
- Microsoft
1 source article · read the reporting →
Brown water, dust and loud noises: Louisa homeowner sues Amazon over data center construction
Austin Newsom, who lives across Route 33 from Amazon's second data centre campus in Louisa County, Virginia, sued Amazon over construction that began in March 2025. He reported loud noise around the clock, dust clouds from dump trucks, and tap water from his well turning muddy brown on and off for months. His neighbour's property was bought by Amazon.
- Company involved
- Amazon
- AI system involved
- Northeast Creek data centre campus
1 source article · read the reporting →
SafeRent Settles Class Action Over Tenant Screening for Voucher Holders
Mary Louis and Monica Douglas filed a class action lawsuit in 2022 alleging that SafeRent Solutions' SafeRent Score product discriminated against rental applicants in Massachusetts who held public housing vouchers, violating fair housing and consumer protection laws. SafeRent denied wrongdoing. The court approved a settlement in November 2024, and payments were distributed to eligible class members in 2025 and 2026.
- Company involved
- SafeRent Solutions, LLC
- AI system involved
- SafeRent Score
5 source articles · read the reporting →
Lawsuit challenges warrantless Flock database searches in county - gmtoday.com
Flock cameras captured images and location data of vehicles and pedestrians, providing law enforcement with a searchable database of individuals' movements without warrants.
- Company involved
- Flock Group Inc.
- AI system involved
- Flock Safety cameras
1 source article · read the reporting →
Lieff Cabraser and Greer Injury Lawyers Announce Federal Class Action Lawsuit Against X.AI Corp and MZX Tech LLC for Nuisance,…
The data centers and gas turbines emitted constant noise, vibrations, and particulate matter, affecting residents' ability to use and enjoy their properties.
- Company involved
- X.AI Corp and MZX Tech LLC
- AI system involved
- Colossus I, Colossus II, MACROHARDRR, Minihard data centers and gas turbines
1 source article · read the reporting →
Meta Scraped User Photos for Secret Smart-Glasses Tech, Class Action Claims - The SOFX Report
Meta harvested user photographs and created biometric faceprints to enable a smart-glasses system that could identify strangers in public without consent.
- Company involved
- Meta Platforms, Inc.
- AI system involved
- NameTag
1 source article · read the reporting →
How Your Shadow Credit Score Could Decide Whether You Get an Apartment - ProPublica
Tenant screening companies assign renters a score drawn from data far wider than credit history, an industry subject to less regulation than credit scoring agencies. ProPublica reports that experts warn these algorithms can decide who gets an apartment on the basis of information applicants cannot see or correct. Kim Fuller was denied a rental application on such a score.
- Company involved
- Habitat America
- AI system involved
- RentGrow
1 source article · read the reporting →
3rd Circuit Revives Hotel Price-Fixing Suit Over Cendyn Rainmaker Algorithm
A group of hotel guests allege that Caesars Entertainment, Hard Rock, Borgata, and MGM conspired to fix room rates using Cendyn's Rainmaker algorithm. The algorithm allegedly recommended prices based on competitively-sensitive information shared among the casinos. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit revived the lawsuit, allowing the claims to proceed. The case is pending.
- Company involved
- Caesars Entertainment, Hard Rock, Borgata, MGM
- AI system involved
- Rainmaker
2 source articles · read the reporting →
Meta Agrees to Alter Ad Technology in Settlement With U.S. (Published 2022) - The New York Times
The ad delivery system allegedly discriminated in housing ad delivery on the basis of protected characteristics.
- Company involved
- Meta
- AI system involved
- ad technology
1 source article · read the reporting →
Flock lawsuit accuses tech company of exposing citizens to rogue police tracking - Top Class Actions
The system recorded and tracked the locations of vehicles and their owners without consent.
- Company involved
- Flock Group Inc.
- AI system involved
- Flock
1 source article · read the reporting →
Florida Title Company Stops AI Deepfake Property Fraud Attempt
A title company owner in Hallandale Beach, Florida, detected an attempted property fraud using a deepfake video. The scammer posed as the owner of a vacant lot, providing a fake driver's licence and a looped video during a video call. The title company owner noticed the video was not interactive and halted the sale. The true owner's property tax bills had been sent to the Bahamas, and the scammer used a photo of a missing woman from California.
- Company involved
- Florida Title and Trust
4 source articles · read the reporting →
Dutch city uses black-box algorithm for home valuation
In 2016, the municipality of Castricum, Netherlands, used an algorithm to set the WOZ value of a resident's home at €320,000, affecting their property tax. The resident challenged the valuation, arguing earthquake damage reduced the value, but the municipality could not explain how the algorithm arrived at the figure. On appeal, an Amsterdam court upheld the valuation, finding it reasonable based on comparable sales, but ordered the municipality to pay court costs for failing to provide an explanation as required by GDPR.
- Company involved
- Municipality of Castricum
1 source article · read the reporting →
Canada Investigates Landlords' Use of AI Rent-Setting Software YieldStar
The Competition Bureau of Canada is investigating allegations that major corporate landlords, including Dream Unlimited, used AI-powered software YieldStar to coordinate rent increases. Tenant advocacy groups filed over 100 complaints, claiming the software recommended above-market rents, exacerbating housing affordability. Some landlords have since halted use of YieldStar amid public backlash, while the investigation continues.
- Company involved
- Dream Unlimited
- AI system involved
- YieldStar
7 source articles · read the reporting →
DC attorney general sues 14 landlords over RealPage rent collusion
The Attorney General of Washington DC filed a lawsuit against 14 large landlords, alleging they used RealPage's YieldStar software to form “a District-wide housing cartel” that artificially inflated rents. The complaint claims RealPage's pricing algorithm used data supplied by the landlords and pressurised them to follow its rate recommendations, with one firm's internal presentation stating at least 95% compliance was expected. This alleged scheme caused residents to pay millions of dollars above fair market prices during a housing affordability crisis.
- Company involved
- Greystar Management Services
- AI system involved
- YieldStar
10 source articles · read the reporting →
Arity collected drivers' data via apps for insurance scores
Popular smartphone apps including Life360, MyRadar and GasBuddy reportedly shared users' location and motion data with Arity, an Allstate-owned company. Arity used the data to calculate driving scores that could be sold to car insurers to set rates. Users were said not to be clearly informed that their data would be used for insurance pricing. Life360 and Arity stated that users had to opt in and that no personally identifiable driving data was shared without consent.
- Company involved
- Arity
- AI system involved
- Arity IQ network
2 source articles · read the reporting →
Zillow shuts down iBuying after algorithms cause $380 million loss
Zillow shut down its Zillow Offers iBuying business after its pricing algorithms, known as Zestimates, consistently overvalued homes. The company purchased thousands of homes at above-market prices and is now selling many at a loss, expecting to lose an estimated $380 million. Zillow attributed the failure to the algorithms' inability to accurately forecast home prices in a volatile market. The company will write off $569 million in home inventory and lay off 25% of its staff.
- Company involved
- Zillow
- AI system involved
- Zestimates
5 source articles · read the reporting →
HUD charges Facebook with housing discrimination over ad targeting
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) charged Facebook with violating the Fair Housing Act by enabling housing discrimination through its targeted advertising platform. HUD alleges that Facebook allowed advertisers to exclude users from seeing housing ads based on race, religion, national origin, and other protected characteristics, and that its machine learning tools may have grouped users by these traits. Facebook had previously settled with civil rights groups and made changes to its ad system, but HUD proceeded with the charge. Facebook expressed surprise and said it had taken significant steps to prevent discrimination.
- Company involved
- Facebook
- AI system involved
- Facebook ad-targeting system
4 source articles · read the reporting →
