Sure looks like it. Multiple MLS providers have confirmed that listing data showing up on HouseCanary‘s website, ComeHome.com, don’t have an agreement to display this information publicly.
It appears the source of the data comes from Nextdoor, which announced a partnership with House Canary back July 2018.
Eric Stegemann, founder of TRIBUS, noticed something suspicious when Nextdoor recently started asking him to send data through HouseCanary and reported it on Facebook.
Good on Eric for reporting this.
The two questions I have are this.
- Is HouseCanary that clueless about MLS data or do they just don’t care?
- How long has this been going on, and have they been using illegal MLS data to power their AVM?
My advice to MLS providers is to check ComeHome.com and see if any of your data is up there and if they are in violation.
UPDATE: I got a call from HouseCanary. They are strongly denying this report from Eric, saying that they have agreements in place with all MLS Providers for which they are displaying data. The question is if those agreements (if they exist) allow them to publicly display MLS data. The rep I talked to on the phone wasn’t totally sure, and said they would check (lame!) They also didn’t like my title, “Is HouseCanary stealing MLS data?”. I’ve given it some thought and have changed the title. Developing…
