Compass and Zillow are involved in two separate legal disputes, not one continuing lawsuit. In February 2026, a federal court denied Compass’s request for a preliminary injunction in its 2025 case against Zillow. Compass said in March it would dismiss that case without prejudice after Zillow changed its listing policy. Zillow then sued Compass and listing service MRED in May. In September, a court denied Zillow preliminary relief against Compass and sent Zillow’s claims against MRED to arbitration. Those rulings did not decide the underlying claims.
What happened, and when?
- June 2025: Compass sued Zillow, challenging Zillow’s Listing Access Standards and arguing that Zillow’s treatment of homes first marketed elsewhere restricted competition.
- February 6, 2026: The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York denied Compass’s motion for a preliminary injunction, finding that Compass had not shown a likelihood of success on the merits.
- March 18, 2026: Compass announced it would dismiss its case without prejudice after Zillow said it would no longer ban sellers and their real-estate professionals for publicly marketing a listing on Compass or Redfin before Zillow. That is Compass’s account of the policy change. Zillow’s statement emphasized continued listing standards and broad public access.
- May 2026: Zillow filed a separate lawsuit against MRED and Compass. Zillow alleged that they coordinated to use MRED’s listing-feed rules to restrict Zillow’s access to listings after Zillow declined to display some homes that first appeared through Compass’s private listing network. These are allegations in Zillow’s complaint, not established facts.
- September 2026: The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois compelled arbitration and stayed the case as to MRED. Separately, it denied Zillow’s request for a preliminary injunction against Compass. Zillow said its claims against Compass are on hold until the MRED arbitration concludes; that is Zillow’s description of the case’s posture.
So the headline “Compass sues Zillow” describes the earlier dispute, but not the later lawsuit: Compass brought the 2025 case, while Zillow brought the 2026 case. The September decisions addressed requests for preliminary relief and arbitration, not the ultimate merits of all claims.
| # | Preview | Product | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
|
Essentials of Practical Real Estate Law | $80.75 | Buy on Amazon |
| 2 |
|
Property Law For Dummies | $22.31 | Buy on Amazon |
| 3 |
|
National Real Estate Salesperson License Exam Prep: Everything You Need to Become a Real Estate... | $29.69 | Buy on Amazon |
What are private listings, and why are they disputed?
A private listing is a home marketed to a limited audience or through a staged process before it is broadly exposed. Depending on the arrangement, people who may see a listing at different stages can include a brokerage’s agents, registered users, visitors to a brokerage website, participants in a multiple listing service (MLS), and users of real-estate portals. The applicable feed and display rules matter: a listing’s presence in one channel does not by itself establish who can see it elsewhere or when it must be distributed.
Compass argues that sellers should have flexibility over when and where a home is marketed, including the option of phased marketing. CEO Robert Reffkin said on March 18, 2026: “Our goal has always been to give homeowners more choice to decide when, where, and how to market their homes.” Zillow argues for simultaneous public exposure. In its March 18 statement, it said: “Any home that is publicly marketed should be visible to all buyers and brokers simultaneously.”
#1 Best Overall
The dispute therefore concerns both seller choice and the effects of distribution rules. A seller may value control over timing or audience; Zillow says broad, simultaneous exposure helps buyers see available homes and sellers reach the market. The court decisions described here do not establish that private marketing is inherently unlawful or that broader portal exposure guarantees a better sale outcome.
What did the courts decide in September?
Claims involving MRED
The Northern District of Illinois granted MRED’s motion to compel arbitration and stay the case as to MRED. That is a procedural ruling about where those claims will proceed, not a finding that Zillow’s allegations of coordination are true or false.
Zillow’s request against Compass
The court separately denied Zillow’s preliminary-injunction request against Compass. In reviewing Zillow’s evidence of alleged coordination, the court said that communications and an opportunity to coordinate did not establish the alleged agreement for purposes of preliminary relief; it also discussed evidence that MRED had independent reasons for expanding its reach. In its analysis of the preliminary-injunction record, the court described Compass’s objective as seeking to “capitalize on the rules that MRED had implemented to preserve that feed.” That assessment is not a final determination of the parties’ claims.
A preliminary-injunction decision is made on the record and legal standard applicable to that request. The September denial should not be read as a final ruling that Zillow’s allegations are false, that Compass or MRED acted unlawfully, or that either side has won the full case.
Free tools Windows power users keep installed
One-click scans. No signup required.
Rank #2
How listing channels differ
The channels at issue differ chiefly in audience, timing, and the rules that govern sharing. The table describes possible audiences, not a claim that every listing follows the same sequence or that any particular distribution is required in every market.
| Channel or stage | Potential audience | Question raised by the dispute |
|---|---|---|
| Brokerage agents or registered users | Agents in a brokerage network or people who meet a registration requirement | How limited is the initial audience, and how long does that stage last? |
| Public brokerage website | Visitors to the brokerage’s site | Does public marketing on one brokerage’s site trigger another platform’s display rules? |
| MLS feed | MLS participants and recipients of the applicable feed | Which feed rules apply, and what happens if a platform declines to display a listing? |
| Real-estate portal | Users of the portal | When does the listing appear, and how does the portal apply its access standards? |
Those distinctions help explain why a disagreement over “where” a home is listed can also be a dispute about “when” it reaches a wider audience and which organization’s rules govern the next step. The litigation does not establish a universal sequence for listings or a single outcome for sellers and buyers.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What do the listing-removal figures show?
The February 6, 2026 Southern District of New York opinion discussed Zillow data from the earlier Compass case. These figures concern specified brokerages and periods; they are not current removal rates or independent market-wide measurements.
- 0.011%: Zillow issued Listing Access Standards warnings to 24 brokerages from May 28 through November 14, 2025. Of 429,111 new listings those brokerages added to Zillow platforms during that interval, the opinion said 0.011% were removed.
- 48 listings, or 0.06%: Zillow removed 48 listings belonging to Compass and Howard Hanna for standards violations from June 30 through November 14, 2025. The opinion compared those removals with 74,082 new listings the two brokerages added from May 28 through November 14, 2025. The removal period and listing-count period are different.
- More than 30,000 listings: In a September 17, 2026 statement, Compass said MRED’s feed contained more than 30,000 listings potentially at issue under the policy it described. This was Compass’s characterization of possible consequences, not a judicial finding that those listings would be removed or become inaccessible.
The percentages describe the particular counts and periods reported in the court opinion. They do not establish how frequently listings are removed today or predict what will happen to listings in the MRED feed.
Will Chicago listings disappear from Zillow?
The September order did not find that more than 30,000 Chicago-area listings would disappear. That figure came from Compass’s statement about listings potentially affected under its interpretation of the policy and ruling. Nor did the ruling resolve what will happen to every MRED listing. Zillow said its claims against Compass are on hold pending the MRED arbitration, while the arbitration and the remaining litigation determine how the dispute proceeds.
What the dispute means for sellers and buyers
For sellers, the central practical question is how a chosen marketing strategy affects the listing’s audience and timing. A limited or phased launch may offer control over how a home is introduced, but the case materials do not establish a guaranteed sale-price or speed advantage. Buyers, meanwhile, may have different levels of access depending on whether a home is shared with a brokerage network, publicly marketed, distributed through an MLS feed, or displayed on a portal.
Before choosing a marketing approach, a seller can ask the brokerage to explain which audiences will see the listing at each stage, when it will be submitted to an MLS or portal, and what rules apply if a platform declines to display it. Those are questions about the specific listing and applicable arrangements; the lawsuits have not produced a general rule that answers them for every market.
Quick Recap
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems
