Redfin has formally—and publicly—asked Washington-based Northwest MLS (NWMLS) to change its rules and allow home sellers to pre-market their properties. The request, detailed in a letter from Joe Rath, Redfin’s Head of Industry Relations at Rocket Companies, challenges what critics have called one of the most restrictive policies around public marketing across the MLS landscape.
NWMLS, which is not affiliated with the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) and does not enforce the Clear Cooperation policy, currently bans essentially all forms of pre-marketing, which Rath and other proponents of the practice argue is preventing sellers from testing pricing and demand before officially listing on the MLS.
“Redfin’s goal is to work constructively with NWMLS and the broader industry to find a solution that keeps listings available on the MLS, supports transparency for agents, and gives sellers the flexibility they’re asking for,” Rath wrote.
The timing of the push is hardly coincidental.
A new Washington law, taking effect June 11, will require agents to market homes to the general public and all brokers simultaneously—but Redfin argues the law creates room for a pre-marketing phase. The company is asking NWMLS to create exactly that, a window where homes would be filed with the MLS, visible to all member agents and available to all buyers through brokers, but with sellers controlling the pace of their public rollout.
“This approach fits within the law’s framework. The law requires public marketing and access for all brokers and buyers, but it does not prescribe exactly how or where that marketing must occur,” Rath wrote in the letter. “Importantly, the law allows the homeowner to choose, not the MLS.”
The law was supported by the state Realtor® association as well as Redfin’s rival Zillow (also headquartered in the state), with lawmakers arguing it will support a fairer market for consumers and uphold fair housing principles.
Notably, Redfin’s stance on pre-marketing and private listings has shifted considerably over the last several months. The company initially announced it would follow Zillow’s lead and enact significant restrictions around any selectively marketed property, but never implemented those rules after it was acquired by Rocket.
Rath, for his part, noted in an internal email last June that the company’s official stance was to recommend public marketing “as the most effective way to sell a home.”
RISMedia reached out to NWMLS and Redfin regarding the letter. NWLS declined to comment, and Redfin did not immediately respond.
Earlier this year, Compass and Rocket announced that Redfin would host Compass’s “Coming Soon” listings, a pre-marketing partnership that almost immediately sparked a rush by other portals and brokerages to launch similar programs.
Also notable, Compass and NWMLS are currently suing each other over the private listing question, with Compass claiming NWMLS’s policies are explicitly designed to undermine its business, and NWMLS arguing that Compass’s approach to private listings harms consumers. Compass CEO Robert Reffkin has taken a much more combative tone in public, saying he was “incredibly excited” to implement the pre-market partnership in NWMLS’s region, and that Compass would alert Rocket if agents are fined.
Rath, in the recent letter, claimed there is “a shift underway” for the change he is lobbying for, pointing to major MLSs across the country—including BrightMLS, MRED in Chicago, UnlockMLS in Austin, Canopy MLS, Realtracs and MLSPIN—who he says “have all adopted seller-choice frameworks that include a pre-marketing status within the MLS.”
Most of those MLSs have offered those options for several years, though, and at least some in the MLS industry remain hesitant to embrace pre-marketing.
According to Rath’s letter, Redfin has already had productive conversations with NWMLS leadership and they “have expressed an openness to hearing our ideas and considering our proposal.”
“The momentum is clear: the industry is moving toward giving sellers more flexibility, not less,” Rath wrote. “We’re asking NWMLS to join that movement.”
