Compass claims Zillow’s Listing Policy “Quashed Competition”

Compass is turning up the noise in its lawsuit against Zillow.

In a filing last week, the residential giant offered more evidence that it says supports its allegation that Zillow has engaged in anticompetitive behavior and collusion in an effort to prevent homes from being marketed off its platform.

The brief was filed in advance of a hearing on Compass’ request for a preliminary injunction on Zillow’s listing policy, which bans listings from appearing on its website that are publicly marketed for more than 24 hours without being uploaded to Zillow and the MLS.

In the brief, Compass cites Zillow’s own publicly marked statistics as evidence that Zillow has a monopolistic stranglehold on the market. In an October 13 post on its website, Zillow reported that roughly 90 percent of agents complied with its listing policy after receiving a warning, something Compass claims is evidence the platform “successfully quashed competition.”

The brief claims that in the days following updating its listing policy, Zillow’s executives “bragged that they had successfully stopped other brokerages from publicly marketing listings.”

“Zillow’s recent announcement shows that it has the power to intimidate agents into depriving home sellers of options they want,” the brief states.

Compass also cited research published by Zillow showing that roughly 30 percent of homeowners are interested in marketing their homes off-market.

The brief claims that those homeowners are being harmed by Zillow’s listing policy, as it forces agents to list homes on Zillow or risk being fired, which is the only way a homeowner could re-list their home on the platform after being banned.

“Zillow’s ability to successfully force agents and home sellers to market homes on Zillow from the beginning, when home sellers previously chose to begin by marketing those homes off of Zillow, shows the power of its monopoly and conspiracy with Redfin,” the brief states.

The brief also expands on Compass’ claims of collusion between Redfin and Zillow, although much of the direct evidence is redacted.

“In a phone call between CEOs—no lawyers, no notes—the CEOs of the two companies agreed to implement versions of the Zillow Ban within two business days of each other,” Compass said in the brief.

Zillow previously shot down allegations of collusion in a response to Compass’ request for a preliminary injunction, claiming that it “has no agreement with Redfin regarding Compass’s listings.”

Zillow is expected to file its own brief next week in advance of a hearing on the preliminary injunction slated for later this month.