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The Compass-Zillow Lawsuit Isn’t Just Legal Drama—It’s a Battle Over Real Estate’s Innovation DNA
Glenn Sanford, CEO of eXp, just weighed in on the Compass-Zillow lawsuit—and whether you agree with him or not, his post hits a critical nerve about where this industry could be headed.
The Compass antitrust lawsuit against Zillow is heating up, and Greg Hague’s latest analysis puts an even sharper point on what’s at stake. I covered the legal filing last week, but Hague’s breakdown highlights just how transformative this case could be for the real estate industry. He’s right: this isn’t just about listing policies or portal preferences. It’s a fight over who controls the digital front door to homebuying—and whether innovation in marketing strategies gets crushed under the weight of a near-monopoly.
What Zillow calls a policy change for transparency, Hague frames as textbook exclusionary conduct. And it’s hard to argue with that lens when you consider the timing: Compass gains traction with its Private Exclusives and extended pre-MLS marketing, NAR adjusts the Clear Cooperation Policy to allow more flexibility, and suddenly Zillow drops a 24-hour rule that effectively bans listings that don’t play by its rules. It’s not about fairness to buyers; it’s about eliminating options that threaten Zillow’s lead-gen machine. The permanent nature of the ban, coupled with Zillow’s platform dominance, underscores the concern.
Compass filed a federal antitrust lawsuit yesterday accusing Zillow of trying to crush competition in the home search space. The core of the lawsuit challenges what Compass calls the “Zillow Ban,” a new policy set to begin enforcement June 30th, which blocks any listing from appearing on Zillow if it was marketed elsewhere—even on a brokerage’s private platform—for more than one day.
Compass claims this rule unfairly targets its 3-Phased Marketing Strategy, which allows sellers to start privately marketing a listing before it hits the MLS and public portals. According to the complaint, 94% of listings that used the strategy in 2024 ultimately went to the MLS and sites like Zillow, but the new policy would strip those sellers of that exposure unless they bypass pre-marketing altogether—or fire their agent and relist with someone else. The suit alleges this is a classic monopolistic move to limit seller choice, eliminate competing innovation, and control inventory. Compass also accuses Zillow of conspiring with Redfin and eXp to enforce the policy across multiple platforms, describing it as a coordinated boycott.
Over the years, I’ve watched this industry change in a lot of ways—but I’ve rarely seen a company founder publicly challenge the power structures of organized real estate quite like Robert Reffkin did last week during Compass’s retreat in Denver. His keynote speech, aimed at Compass agents, was less about motivation and more of a pointed indictment of NAR, MLSs, and portals like Zillow. Whether you agree with him or not, he raised some serious questions that the broader real estate world can’t ignore.
Reffkin framed the issue as “choice versus control,” painting organized real estate as a system designed not to protect consumers, but to maintain control over listing data and membership dues. He made the case that MLSs and trade associations—backed by $2B in annual agent dues and $86M in lobbying spend—have gone well beyond their original missions. He described Clear Cooperation rules as less about collaboration and more about squashing alternative listing platforms, especially those that allow for strategic pre-market exposure or “private exclusives” that don’t route through the usual channels.