Desmond Banks v. CoStar Realty Information, Inc.

CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Missouri
DecidedOctober 20, 2025
Docket4:25-cv-00564
StatusUnknown

This text of Desmond Banks v. CoStar Realty Information, Inc. (Desmond Banks v. CoStar Realty Information, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Desmond Banks v. CoStar Realty Information, Inc., (E.D. Mo. 2025).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI EASTERN DIVISION DESMOND BANKS, ) ) Plaintiff, ) v. ) No. 4:25-cv-00564-CMS ) COSTAR REALTY INFORMATION, INC., ) ) Defendant. )

MEMORDANDUM AND ORDER Before the Court is the Motion to Dismiss for Failure to State a Claim of Defendant CoStar Realty Information, Inc. (“CoStar”). (Doc. 13). For the reasons set forth below, Defendant’s motion is GRANTED. BACKGROUND According to Plaintiff’s Petition, Plaintiff had accounts with one of CoStar’s websites, apartments.com, and with Facebook. (Doc. 5 at 8). During the past year, Plaintiff has used his apartments.com account to view prerecorded video tours. (Doc. 5 at 8). Plaintiff alleges that CoStar’s website uses multiple pixels, including the Meta Pixel shown below. (Doc. 5 at 5). The Meta Pixel is a piece of code that CoStar has integrated into its website, which, once activated, will track the activity of a person accessing the website. (Doc. 5 at 5–6). It then will send that information to Facebook in the form of a URL which contains details about the content accessed, including in this case, a video watched, and an ID code:

Meta Pixel Helper [a Lear More 2 pixel found on www.apartments.cam @ Meta Pixel Troubleshoot Pixel Pixel ID: 165733063922593 click to copy Set up events w © PageView EVENT INFO Setup Method: Manual URL called: Hide https: (ww. facebook, com/tr/2id=16513306 39 2259 ddev— age Vie wad |=https3Ax2F22 apartments, □□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□ s-chicago-7 1#2Fdsd9v8j22F%2 3dsd9v8j -0-wirtual Touré FoF alse&ts=1742323219 0861 4sw=19 □□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□ lege c=040=1231 88th p=fb .1 1742332190859 .5061130958841991 31 4ler= emptyacd1=AP I_unavai 1 ab ledit=17423321907254coo0=fal sedexp=k O4rqm=GET Load Time: 602.39 ms Pixel Code: Show Pixel Location: Show Frame: Window » & ViewContent

@ Meta Pixel Troubleshoot Pixel Pixel ID: google_tag_managel] clicktocopy Set up events > | PageView (Doc. 5 at 6). Plaintiff alleges that when he watched videos on apartments.com, CoStar disclosed his information, including which videos he watched on apartments.com, to third parties, though he specifically names only Facebook and TikTok.! (Doc. 5 at 5—6). Plaintiff admits that he “is unaware of the status of his [information], to whom it has been

' Plaintiff does not allege that he has ever had a TikTok account.

disclosed, and who has possession and retained his [information] as a result of Defendant’s . . . disclosures.” (Doc. 5 at 9).

Plaintiff filed the instant action in the Circuit Court of St. Louis City against Defendant CoStar. (Doc. 1 at 1). Subsequently, CoStar removed the case to this Court. Id. In his Petition, Plaintiff brings a claim against CoStar, claiming that CoStar violated 18 U.S.C. § 2710 by disclosing Plaintiff’s personal identifying information (“PII”) to third parties. (Doc. 5 at 1, 9). Plaintiff’s first and only count requests (i) declaratory relief; (ii) injunctive and equitable relief; (iii) statutory damages of $2,500 per violation of 18

U.S.C. § 2710(b); and (iv) attorneys’ fees and costs and other litigation expenses. ANALYSIS Defendant CoStar filed a Motion to Dismiss for Failure to State a Claim seeking dismissal of Plaintiff’s Petition with prejudice. (Doc. 13). For a complaint to survive a motion to dismiss, it “must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to ‘state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 129 S.Ct.

1937, 1949, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 555, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955 (2007)); Lustgraaf v. Behrens, 619 F.3d 867, 873 (8th Cir. 2010). The facts in the complaint must “raise a right to relief above the speculative level.” Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555. “‘Threadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action, supported by mere conclusory statements, do not suffice.’” Usenko v. MEMC LLC, 926 F.3d 468, 472

(8th Cir. 2019) (quoting Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678). “‘A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.’” Park Irmat Drug Corp. v. Express Scripts Holding Co., 911 F.3d 505, 512 (8th Cir. 2018) (quoting Whitney v. Guys, Inc., 700 F.3d 1118, 1128 (8th Cir. 2012)).

On a motion to dismiss, the Court “must accept as true all of the complaint’s factual allegations and view them in the light most favorable to the Plaintiffs.” Stodghill v. Wellston Sch. Dist., 512 F.3d 472, 476 (8th Cir. 2008) (quoting Gunter v. Morrison, 497 F.3d 868, 873–74 (8th Cir. 2007)). The Court may also consider documents attached to the complaint and materials necessarily embraced by the pleadings. Park Irmat Drug Corp., 911 F.3d at 512.

Congress passed 18 U.S.C. § 2710, or the “Video Privacy Protection Act” (“VPPA”), in 1988, in the wake of the Washington City Paper publishing Judge Robert Bork’s video rental history during his Supreme Court nomination proceedings. In re Nickelodeon Consumer Privacy Litig., 827 F.3d 262, 278 (3d Cir. 2016). A violation of Section 2710(b)(1) occurs when a “video tape service provider . . . knowingly discloses,

to any person, personally identifiable information concerning any consumer of such provider . . . .” Section 2710(c) of the VPPA creates a civil action for the aggrieved person against any violator of the Act. Plaintiff’s claim rests on three contentions: First, that CoStar, through its website, apartments.com, is a “video tape service provider.” (Doc. 5 at 12). Second, that Plaintiff

is a “consumer” as defined by Section 2710(a)(1). Id. And third, that CoStar disclosed “personally identifiable information,” as defined by Section 2710(a)(3), to third party advertisers. Id. In deciding each of these questions, this Court must interpret the relevant subsections of the VPPA as a matter of law. Ark. Times LP v. Waldrip as Tr. of Univ. of Ark. Bd. of Trs., 37 F.4th 1386, 1392 (8th Cir. 2022); see also Duncan v. Jack Henry & Assocs., Inc., 617 F.Supp.3d 1011, 1054 (W.D. Mo. 2022) (“Thus, what controls is the

statutory interpretation of the term ‘gender identity disorders’ as used within § 12211(b)(1)’s exclusionary provision, a question of law rather than fact.”).2 CoStar is Not a “Video Tape Service Provider.” CoStar is not a “video tape service provider” under the VPPA. Plaintiff’s argument that CoStar is a “video tape service provider” relies on several cases, most importantly Mata v. Zillow Grp. Inc., 2024 WL 5161955 (S.D. Ca. Dec. 18, 2024). Those cases

broadly interpret the language of Section 2710(a)(4) to include websites like apartments.com, which concededly have “non-video aspects to their business model.” (Doc. 20 at 4–5) (citing cases); see also, e.g., Salazar v., Nat’l Basketball Ass’n, 118 F.4th 533, 548 (2d Cir. 2024). As discussed below, Plaintiff’s reliance on Mata is misplaced because Mata misinterprets the language of Section 2710(a)(4).

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Desmond Banks v. CoStar Realty Information, Inc., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/desmond-banks-v-costar-realty-information-inc-moed-2025.