Key facts
- Six MLSs filed a lawsuit against Compass International Holdings on Wednesday.
- The lawsuit seeks to prevent Compass from filing antitrust lawsuits against the MLSs.
- The MLSs argue Compass's exclusive listing marketing practices undermine the MLS system.
- Compass has threatened litigation against MLSs that penalize agents for marketing office-exclusive listings.
Six Multiple Listing Services (MLSs) have filed a lawsuit against Compass International Holdings in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, seeking to prevent the real estate company from pursuing antitrust litigation against them. The MLSs, including Arizona Regional MLS, Bridge MLS, Canopy MLS, REcolorado, Hive MLS, and Doorify MLS, are asking the court to allow them to continue enforcing their cooperation rules and policies without violating antitrust laws. They also seek an injunction to permanently bar Compass from bringing claims that these rules are anticompetitive.
The plaintiffs argue that Compass's practice of publicly marketing office-exclusive or private listing properties before sharing them with the wider MLS market gives the company an unfair competitive advantage and undermines the MLS system. This action follows a similar lawsuit filed earlier this month by California Regional MLS (CRMLS) seeking the same outcomes.
The MLSs stated they were prompted to file the lawsuit after Compass sent demand letters in September threatening legal action if MLSs did not stop fining Compass's agents for publicly marketing office-exclusive listings. Compass CEO Robert Reffkin had also publicly reiterated these threats. Compass maintains that homeowners should be able to publicly market any listing without their agents facing fines, and that MLS rules are anticompetitive.