Compass tries to recruit brokerage owner Michael Nourmand

Talk about a bold recruiting move. Compass, determined to expand in Beverly Hills, tried to sign up Michael Nourmand, the owner of top-producing luxury brokerage Nourmand & Associates.

A recruiter for Compass emailed Nourmand and asked him to connect and “see if there might be a fit” for him, The Real Deal has learned. Compass supports its agents differently than at other brokerages, the recruiter, Jacob Wells, said.

Nourmand told TRD that Compass has previously approached him about potential acquisition opportunities, but this was the first time he’d received an email to be recruited as an agent.

Brokerages often send out mass emails to agents on distribution lists, meaning the solicitation may have been a mistake, a source familiar with real estate recruiting operations told TRD.

Compass declined to respond to a request for comment.

Nourmand’s father, Saeed Nourmand, started Nourmand & Associates in 1976. The firm now has 84 agents registered to work in Beverly Hills, according to Michael, who took over the business in 2007.

Compass has 79 agents in the city of Beverly Hills, according to TRD data. The New York-based brokerage, which recently went public, is currently facing litigation over allegedly engaging in “bait-and-switch” tactics to hire agents from other competitors.

Since moving into L.A. in 2015, the company has picked up a number of high profile agents, including Chris Cortazzo from Coldwell Banker, Aaron Kirman and Sally Forster Jones from Pacific Union International and Tomer Fridman from Hilton & Hyland.