The Northwest Multiple Listing Service is hitting back at Compass.
Seattle-based NWMLS put forward a set of counterclaims in its lawsuit with Compass, claiming the brokerage’s “three-phased marketing strategy” amounts to unfair and deceptive marketing, in a filing in court on Friday.
Compass sued the listing service one year ago, alleging that NWMLS engaged in anticompetitive behavior when it changed its rule to prohibit brokerages from marketing listings without making them available to other brokerages through MLS syndication. The listing service had tried to dismiss the lawsuit for a failure to state a claim, but a judge denied that effort last month.
NWMLS’ counterclaims came as part of a response to Compass’ original complaint.
The listing service said “Compass deliberately misleads consumers and brokers” by claiming its three-phased marketing listings on the MLS had not previously been available for sale, when in fact “Compass knows very well that the property has been available for sale and viewing for a significant period of time.”
Compass’ three-phased marketing plan has agents put listings through a series of increasingly public states, beginning with the listings being privately marketed within Compass or through an in-person book. The next phase has the listings appear on Compass.com without being syndicated through the MLS, and the final phase has the listings broadly distributed through listing services.
“We are confident NWMLS will fail to deter consumers and courts from its illegal acts,” a spokesperson for Compass said in response to the listing service’s claims. “Instead of focusing on solutions that benefit consumers and promote competition, NWMLS is retaliating against us for exposing its illegal scheme to deprive homeowners of their rights and block competition. This is how monopolists like NWMLS treat their customers.”
NWMLS also claims that Compass and its CEO Robert Reffkin knowingly encouraged agents to violate NWMLS rules and that the brokerage offered to repay agents who were fined for doing so.
NWMLS ultimately cut off Compass’ access to its data feed on April 15 for the rules violations. But it restored access just 48 hours later, after Compass agreed to abide by the listing service’s requirements.
The listing service alleges that Compass’ marketing strategies violate the Consumer Protection Act and deceive consumers and other broker members of NWMLS.
“This case is about more than just MLS rules; it’s about putting people over corporations,” said NWMLS CEO Justin Haag. “We are standing up for the principle that every family has the right to see every home for sale, because housing data belongs in the sunlight, not in a private vault.”
The listing services counterclaims also now come with what appears to be new legislative support. In March, Washington state passed a law prohibiting agents from marketing a home to a “limited or exclusive group of prospective buyers or brokers” without marketing it to the general public. The law goes into effect on June 11.
Several other states have proposed similar laws this year, as the battle over private listings has shifted from national legal battles to local disputes. Until March 2025, members of the National Association of Realtors were required to comply with a NAR policy that required listings be uploaded to the MLS within 24 hours of public marketing, effectively prohibiting the use of “Coming Soon” listings, which appear on Compass.com’s website.
NAR rolled back that rule with an update to its policy that allowed for local MLSes to determine how long a listing could be marketed without being displayed or syndicated on the MLS.
One month later, Zillow unveiled a new policy that threatened to ban listings not uploaded to its site and the MLS within 24 hours of public marketing, prompting Compass to sue the platform for alleged antitrust violations.
But Compass dropped the suit last month after Zillow announced partnerships with dozens of other brokerages that allow them to display listings on its site without uploading them to the MLS. Zillow has stated that brokers are still responsible for following local MLS guidelines.
In February, Compass also expanded the reach of its “Coming Soon” listings by allowing for them to be published on Redfin’s home search platform.
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