Chappaqua, New York home sellers, married couple Andrew and Eri Uerkwitz, are claiming that flood risk data provided by First Street Technology accompanying their listing on Zillow is to blame for their home-selling woes, according to a story first published by the Daily Mail.
In April 2025, the Uerkwitzes listed their Westchester County home, which was 2,313 square feet and included three bedrooms and four bathrooms, for $1.15 million, nearly three years after purchasing it in June 2022, for $1.1 million.
At the time, properties in Chappaque had a median days on market of seven days, according to HousingWire Data. However, the Uerkwitzes said their property sat on the market for months. Although the property sat, there was still interest in the home, including two offers the sellers accepted only to have the prospective buyers pull their offers after they allegedly saw the property’s flood risk rating, which was flagged on Zillow as 9/10 indicating an “extreme” flood risk property. The Uerkwitzes claimed that other interested buyers cited the flood risk as to why they ultimately did not make an offer on the property. Zillow began partnering with First Street for flood risk data in September 2024.
Take it to court
After roughly four months on the market, the Chappaqua home finally sold for a $100,000 loss in mid-August for $999,000. However, prior to the home being sold, the Uerkwitzes filed a lawsuit in New York County Superior Court against Zillow and First Street Technology, the company that compiles the climate risk data for Zillow. In their suit, filed in mid-June, the plaintiffs claimed that the property’s flood risk rating on Zillow caused it to be “stigmatized as materially unsellable at its actual market value.”
“Plaintiffs’ real estate broker attributes the paucity of prospective buyers that have come through the house to the ‘extreme risk of flood’ designation,” the complaint stated.
The Uerkwitzes are seeking $500,000 in damages.
Every property on Zillow includes climate risk ratings for flood, fire, wind, heat and air pollution. Properties get a score out of 10 for each risk category. The higher the score the greater the risk. On Zillow, prospective buyers are only able to see the numerical rating, but they are able to access the property’s detailed climate report through a paid subscription with First Street.
With a 9/10 flood risk rating on Zillow, homebuyers interested in the Uerkwitzs’ property were told that the chance of getting one inch of flooding was 18% this year, 96% in the next 15 years, and 99% in the next 30 years. The complaint claims that this assessment is not factually accurate and that it contradicts FEMA flood zone maps, as well as “on-site insurance inspections, and the physical characteristics of the property.”
“The property is not located in a FEMA flood zone, has never flooded, does not require flood insurance, and includes topographical and structural features that preclude a credible risk of flooding,” the complaint stated.
FEMA flood zone maps are out of date, say experts
However, flood insurance experts have noted that FEMA’s flood zone maps are out of date and don’t recognize the flood risks many properties face today.
The filing also noted that the property did not suffer any flooding damage during hurricanes Ida and Irene, and that the sump pump in the basement has never been triggered.
Since the lawsuit was filed Zillow has begun including FEMA flood rating information on listings, in addition to the First Street ratings. A disclaimer next to the risk assessments states that there may be discrepancies in the risk assessments. The Uerkwtizes say that neither the FEMA rating nor the disclaimer were present when they listed their home this past spring.
The elephant in the room
The Uerkwitzes are not the only ones pushing back against the information Zillow provides alongside listings on its website. Last October, when Compass CEO Robert Reffkin first began publicly pushing his goal to make Compass.com a hub for listings, he claimed that no homeowner wants the number of days their property has been listed, its history of price cuts, crime reports or climate risk-related data to be shown with their listing.
“The powerful real estate websites use these insights to empower their model of selling buyers to third-party agents,” Reffkin said during his firm’s Q3 2024 earnings class with investors and analysts. “In the same way tabloids use negative headlines to attract readers, real estate websites use negative insights to attract buyers.”
While Reffkin did not call out Zillow by name at the time, his apparent disdain for the listing portal giant has become well chronicled over the past 12 months, capping off with a lawsuit filed against Zillow, in which Compass claims that it is being irreparably harmed by Zillow’s listing access standards, as the policy prevents Zillow from using its three phased marketing plan. The Zillow policy bans listings that are publicly advertised for more than one business day prior to being entered into the MLS and available for IDX or VOW display. In contrast, Compass’s marketing strategy relies on keeping listings private for a period of time in hopes of selling them before they hit the market or keeping their official days on market count low by generating interest prior to the listing going live on the market.
Reffkin is not the only one espousing these thoughts. This summer, Compass agents told HousingWire that listing a property on the open market and providing prospective buyers with insights like days on market, climate risk data and price cut history is a “disservice” to the seller.
Zillow pushes back
Zillow has pushed back against this narrative, with chief industry development officer Errol Samuelson, writing in a post on LinkedIn that hiding listings from buyers puts them as a “significant disadvantage.”
“A healthy housing market thrives on competition and transparency. Our industry is at its best when it is focused on fostering a robust market. When listings are widely available to the public, buyers can make the best decisions,” Samuelson wrote.
Samuelson, along with many others, including the leaders of the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP) and Asian Real Estate Association of America (AREAA) believe that hiding information like days on market and price cuts prevents buyers from making truly informed decisions, and that a proliferation of private listings could create fair housing concerns.
Compass and Zillow remain locked in their legal battle over private listings and Zillow’s listing access standards policy. Zillow did not return HousingWire’s request for comment about the allegations made in the Uerkwtizes’ lawsuit.
