Compass is back in the legal spotlight, this time as the defendant in a class action antitrust suit filed by New York City renters who allege the megabrand “monopolized” the New York metro market through its acquisition of Anywhere, and also restricted renters’ access to inventory by asking agents to divert listings off of Zillow’s StreetEasy platform.
Filed in the U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, on August 19, Plaintiffs Peter Castaneda and Haley Gelfand are seeking redress under federal and state antitrust laws—including the Sherman Antitrust Act and New York’s Donnelly Act—on behalf of themselves and a “class of all persons in the New York City-metro area who have leased non-rent stabilized, multifamily residential real estate units from August 1, 2026 to the present.” The filing estimates the potential size of the class to be in “the tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands.”
Plaintiffs are alleging that Compass attempted to or did monopolize the market for rental units in the New York City metro area by “neutralizing competitors” through its acquisition of Anywhere and its brands at the beginning of the year, and “through the manipulation of renters’ access to available listings of rental units through digital platforms.”
“Due to Compass’s outsized market share, it is able to control the price of rental units,” the filing reads. “The reason for this is because it can literally dictate pricing for as much as 80% of Manhattan’s rental units, for example, as the listing agent for those properties.”
According to the filing, citing an article in The Real Deal, Compass also moved to limit renters’ access to listings by recently asking New York City agents to temporarily pull their listings off of Zillow’s StreetEasy platform, beginning in August, and divert those listings through REBNY’s Residential Listing Service.
“The rerouting of Compass’ listings through REBNY’s Residential Listing Service (‘RLS’) intentionally results in depriving consumers of free-to-access portals to find rental units and instead mandates the use of a broker (which necessitates broker fees) to find a rental unit,” reads the filing. “With control over those listings, choosing to delist them from free-to-use platforms like StreetEasy means the creation of a significant dearth in supply.”
Plaintiffs claim that Compass’ strategy has caused a surge in NYC rental prices due to a drop-off in inventory.
“As of August 13, 2026, inventory across all areas of New York City for rental units have dropped 40% in the past year. Market reports found that this corresponded with a 3% price increase for June of 2026 as compared to June of 2025, with double the price increase (6%) for July of 2026,” reads the filing, citing a recent Business Insider article.
Plaintiffs describe sticker shock
Castaneda’s StreetEasy search for a Manhattan rental unit earlier this month resulted in him leasing a one-bedroom apartment for $5,270 a month, far exceeding July’s average/median asking price of $4,390. The lawsuit claims that Castaneda was “deprived of a normal functioning market” due to the “dearth of supply caused by Compass.” Gelfand describes a nearly identical experience, claiming that she “suffered damages in the form of rent overcharges or supracompetitive prices for rent.”
The filing details the potential additional cost to renters in the form of a broker’s fee paid to Compass if rental seekers are forced to turn to the brand’s home-search platform to uncover listings. “StreetEasy (and, more broadly, Zillow) is also free to use: however, there are options to ensure that a prospective renter does not need to pay a real estate agent a brokers fee (which, in New York City, is usually equivalent to at least one months’ rent),” read the filing.
“In order to get the full list of the massive amount of rental units and other apartments for sale which Compass has available, a prospective renter or renter’s agent…would have to go through the Compass ecosystem,” the filing reads. “This locks a tremendous amount of inventory of available rental units behind an uncrossable moat—making it impossible for prospective renters or renter’s agents to avoid paying Compass its monopoly rent.”
The filing also cites a recent letter penned by U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren, warning that Compass’ private listing strategy and widespread market share threaten to create a “two-tiered housing market where insiders pay for exclusive access to housing inventory and market data, while everyone else is shut out…driving up housing costs and worsening inequalities in the housing market.”
“From the halls of Congress to courtrooms across the country, Compass’ conquest to seize control over various housing markets has drawn consternation, scrutiny, and litigation in a challenging attempt to quell the impending crisis caused by Compass,” read the filing. “That crisis has now come to pass.”
This latest filing follows other high-profile litigation involving Compass, famously locked in battle over Zillow’s Listing Access Standards’ implications for its pre-market listings. In July, Zillow went head to head with Compass and MRED in Chicago federal court to debate the MLS’s right to suspend its listing feed to ZIllow.
Castaneda and Gelfand are seeking to recover actual damages and treble damages, as well as injunctive relief through a court order requiring Compass to cease its “unlawful conduct.”
Compass had no comment at press time.
