Six MLSs are joining together in a federal lawsuit against Compass, escalating and consolidating opposition to the mega-brokerage as a long-simmering confrontation between incumbent listing service platforms and the arch-disruptor mega-brokerage appears destined for a prolonged court battle.
Filed in the federal Southern District of New York yesterday by Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service, REColorado, Canopy MLS, Hive MLS, Doorify MLS and Bridge MLS, the lawsuit asks the court to declare the MLS rules in question do not violate state and federal antitrust law, and block Compass from pursuing its own lawsuits against them.
“Compass is campaigning to restrict access to residential listings so that consumers and other brokers must go through a Compass agent just to learn about a home for sale,” the lawsuit says. “Compass aggressively used the court system to effectuate that campaign.”
A Compass spokesperson told RISMedia via email that “(o)nly the law and the homeowner should tell agents how to publicly market a home, and these MLSs are neither the law nor the homeowner.”
The spokesperson also claimed that MLSs serving more than 350,000 agents across 12 states allow the kind of public marketing off-MLS Compass has lobbied for.
Compass already sued California-based CRMLS, claiming its rules violate antitrust laws. CRMLS previously promised to rally opposition to Compass and support for MLS cooperation, filing its own lawsuit seeking a declaration that its rules aren’t anti-competitive.
An attorney representing the plaintiffs said in an emailed statement that the lawsuit is about a “fair marketplace.”
“Our clients believe transparency and broad access to timely and accurate listing information are fundamental to a competitive real estate industry. These rules serve an important purpose for the consumers who buy and sell homes,” said Greg Skidmore, lead attorney representing the six MLS organizations.
The big picture
As both sides dig in, the outcome is certain to have far-reaching effects across the industry. Compass’s critics and rivals have warned that changing these policies and allowing off-MLS marketing with little or no restriction will fracture the industry, with big companies competing for inventory rather than cooperating on a shared platform.
Compass, for its part, argues that the MLS industry has operated as a monopoly, stunting innovation and competition through restrictive rules that it claims also harm sellers—and the brokerage’s signature marketing programs, which involve hosting listings on both public and private Compass-controlled platforms.
“(Cooperation) rules protect the fundamental purpose of the MLS—to establish and maintain a comprehensive database of accurate and timely information about real estate listings,” the lawsuit reads. “If brokers could use the MLS database to find properties for their buyer-clients while simultaneously withholding their own listings, the database would become incomplete and lose its value.”
Some of the MLSs in the lawsuit have confronted Compass or spoken out strongly regarding cooperation, “private” listings or the policies in question over the last few months.
Back in September, Hive MLS CEO Daniel Jones penned an “MLS Constitution,” only weeks after Compass had privately given MLSs an ultimatum over those rules. Documents revealed in a separate lawsuit between Zillow and Compass showed that Compass had previously pressured Hive to “enforce” rules that would restrict Zillow’s access to listing feeds.
Canopy was one of several MLSs that expanded its platform nationally this year, with CEO Anne Marie DeCatsye telling RISMedia at the time she questioned how “fair” premarketing is, and that removing days and market and other stats would be “confusing” for consumers.
REcolorado, notably, is owned by a private outside group after a controversial deal in 2024 saw the MLS’s board ousted and raised questions about the new owner’s interests.
Two other MLSs not party to this lawsuit have publicly defied Compass’s demands in recent days, promising to keep enforcing cooperation rules.
Compass has also framed the issue around control of data, after previously asking MLSs not to provide its data to recruiting or tech firms, arguing that this use of broker data “strays far beyond the core mission of the MLS.”
A letter sent by REColorado CEO Dana Bennet framed the issue as about protecting consumers, and noted the lawsuit “is not about individual Compass agents or brokers.”
“REcolorado supports seller choice,” Bennett wrote. “But we believe there is an important difference between choosing to keep a property private and publicly advertising a property for sale while withholding that listing from the cooperative MLS database.”
This is a breaking story. Stay tuned to RISMedia for updates.
Editor’s note: this story was updated at 10:29 a.m. eastern time with comments from an attorney for the plaintiffs, and new information and details throughout.
