Arizona SB1291 passes

On Monday, Governor Janet Napolitano of Arizona signed into law Senate Bill 1291, including an amendment that protects Zillow and other automated valuation models from laws regulating appraisals. This amendment was introduced after the Arizona Board of Appraisal sent two cease and desist letters to Zillow, saying our site could not operate in Arizona without an appraiser’s license. In late June, the Board of Appraisal itself rescinded the letters to cease and desist.

We believe consumers have rights to open and transparent real estate information, for free. We believe attempts to limit or restrict access to this information are not in the best interest of consumers anywhere. Thus we’re extremely pleased at the passing of this bill, and appreciate the leadership shown by Rep. Michele Reagan and Sen. Barbara Leff in response to actions by the Board of Appraisal, not to mention the citizens of Arizona who insisted their legislature do the right thing. We’d also like to thank the Board of Appraisal and Vice Chair Charlie Havranek for responding quickly and reconsidering the issues at hand.

We will continue to add free tools and information to help homeowners, buyers and sellers learn more about homes. Through Zestimates, data, Home Q&A and much more to come, it is our goal to help people uncover information about real estate that was previously difficult or impossible to find, and help consumers become smarter and more empowered in the process. Thanks for helping us to come this far.