Buxbaum v. Zillow Group Inc.
- Ronnie Abrams
- 1:25-cv-02766
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 5
In Buxbaum v. Zillow Group Inc., Judge Abrams dismissed Michael Buxbaum’s False Claims Act suit as frivolous and denied leave to amend.
Michael Buxbaum’s False Claims Act action against Zillow Group Inc. was dismissed, and he was not allowed to amend the complaint.
What happened
In Buxbaum v. Zillow Group Inc., Michael Buxbaum, representing himself, sued Zillow Group Inc. under the False Claims Act. He alleged that Zillow made false claims to the government, committed fraud, monopolized the real estate marketplace, provided false mathematical information, and did not list his properties for sale.
The court found that the complaint offered only unsupported beliefs, suspicions, and conclusory statements, without facts establishing fraud or an illegal refusal to list his properties. The court also considered Buxbaum’s history of filing more than one hundred actions in the district when evaluating the level of special consideration given to his self-represented filing.
Judge Ronnie Abrams dismissed the complaint as frivolous and denied leave to amend because the court found that the defects could not be cured by adding allegations. The Clerk was directed to enter judgment dismissing the action and mail the order to Buxbaum.
The detailed version
- Buxbaum v. Zillow Group Inc. · No. 1:25-cv-02766
- Ronnie Abrams
- May 30, 2025
Background
Michael Buxbaum, who was representing himself, brought a single-claim action against Zillow Group Inc. under the False Claims Act, 31 U.S.C. § 3729. The complaint alleged that Zillow made false claims to the United States government, committed fraud, monopolized the real estate marketplace, disseminated false mathematical information, sold information to Buxbaum, and failed to list Buxbaum’s properties for sale.
The complaint requested an order suspending Zillow’s real estate license while the case was pending, $5,500,000 for false claims, and $93,931,548 for alleged repeated violations of the False Claims Act. The opinion states that Buxbaum had filed more than one hundred actions in the Southern District of New York since mid-December 2024.
Court’s analysis
The court applied 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2), which requires dismissal of a complaint that is frivolous, malicious, fails to state a claim, or seeks monetary relief from an immune defendant. A claim is factually frivolous when its factual allegations are clearly baseless, fanciful, fantastic, or delusional. The court also explained that self-represented complaints are read liberally, but they still must provide a short and plain statement showing entitlement to relief under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 8.
The court concluded that Buxbaum’s complaint was frivolous. It found that the complaint provided no factual basis for the assertions that Zillow committed fraud or illegally refused to list his properties. The court characterized the allegations as conclusory claims and suspicions that were not plausible. Although the court considered Buxbaum’s self-represented status, it stated that the special consideration normally given to such filings was lessened because of his extensive litigation history.
Disposition
The court denied leave to amend because it found that the complaint’s defects could not be cured through amendment. The court dismissed the complaint as frivolous under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e)(2)(B). It directed the Clerk of Court to enter judgment dismissing the action and mail a copy of the order to Buxbaum.
Read the full 5-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.