Compass sues Zillow over private listings policy
“Compass filed a lawsuit in New York on Monday, alleging that Zillow is breaking federal antitrust laws by permanently banning any listing that isn’t put on an MLS within a business day of being publicly marketed.
“To protect its market dominance, Zillow has retaliated against competitive threats by enacting an exclusionary policy,” Compass argued in its lawsuit.”
Compass is already suing MLS organizations like NWMLS. Even in this industry the blustering that Reffkin is performing would put a carnival barker to shame.
All MLSs already have mechanisms to protect sellers who need confidentiality. To suggest otherwise is just false.
The real question is: does limiting exposure to a handpicked group of “right” buyers help most sellers? Maybe—if the home is ultra-unique. But for 99.9999% of listings, broad exposure is what gets results.
Remember the story of a seller using Compass’s “three-phase plan” who got her “magic number,” declined, then went public—and sold for $100K more.
Compass is selling a marketing strategy that only works in a hot market. As things cool or shift to a buyer’s market, that approach collapses.
Also worth noting: per NAR, 1 in 6 minority homebuyers reports facing discrimination. Does anyone really think keeping listings hidden improves that?