Six multiple listing services across the U.S. — Arizona Regional MLS, Bridge MLS Inc., Canopy MLS, REColorado, Hive MLS and Doorify — have filed suit against Compass in the SDNY United States District Court, according to a new filing.
According to the complaint, the suit “arises from a campaign by Compass … to pressure multiple listing services into changing cooperation rules in a way that would favor Compass but would make the market for residential real estate less transparent and less competitive, ultimately hurting consumers.”
The complaint states that MLSs exist “to create a comprehensive database of accurate, timely information about real estate listings that no individual broker could create.” That database, it says, offers “substantial benefits” to both brokers and consumers.
“A brokerage, like Compass, that wants access to this comprehensive database of information joins the MLS and agrees to its rules,” the complaint continues. It goes on to outline the “Cooperation Rules” that require MLS inclusion of publicly marketing properties.
In response to the suit, a spokesperson for Compass wrote that “homeowners should be able to publicly market any listing … Only the law and the homeowner should tell agents how to publicly market a home, and these MLSs are neither the law nor the homeowner.
“Agents should be free to compete on the marketing strategies they offer,” the spokesperson added.
Earlier this month, California Regional Multiple Listing Service (CRMLS) sued Compass as part of its fight over public marketing of listings that are withheld from MLSs. In response, Compass filed an antitrust lawsuit against CRMLS 11 days later, saying it would pay “certain CRMLS fines issued to agents at its company-owned brokerages.”
This is a developing story.
