NEW YORK CITY—Facing off in what seems more and more like a battle for the future of real estate, Zillow and Compass kicked off a four-day evidentiary trial in the Southern District of New York this morning in their high-stakes dispute over restrictions around private listings, with Compass CEO Robert Reffkin taking the stand to…

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The COURT REPORT is RISMedia’s weekly look at current and upcoming lawsuits, investigations and other legal developments around real estate. Zillow and Compass hearing begins Tuesday, Nov. 18  On Tuesday, Nov. 18, Compass and Zillow will meet in court for a scheduled four-day hearing held in New York City, the latest round in the ongoing…

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In a legal filing Nov. 12 in New York’s U.S. District Court ahead of a high-stakes hearing starting Nov. 18 to address Compass’s preliminary injunction motion, Zillow defended its new rules around private listings amid its ongoing court battle with Compass. The standards, which took effect in June, prohibit listings on Zillow that are publicly…

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The COURT REPORT is RISMedia’s weekly look at current and upcoming lawsuits, investigations and other legal developments around real estate. Compass’s request for Zillow/Redfin documents currently denied  This past week saw new developments in the ongoing litigation between Compass and Zillow, the crux of which is Compass’s objections to Zillow’s new rules that remove listings…

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Ahead of the Nov. 18 hearing over its legal challenge to Zillow’s new listing rules, Compass filed a supplemental brief against the portal, accusing it of weaponizing its dominance in the home portal market to crush competition and force home sellers and agents to list properties on its platform first.  In the pre-hearing brief submitted…

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“In a housing market that’s bouncing along the bottom, Zillow continues to outperform both our outlook and the broader industry,” claimed CEO Jeremy Wacksman during the company’s Q3 2025 earnings call on Thursday, October 30.  The call took on a congratulatory tone as Zillow leadership spotlighted strong financial performance and Zillow’s consumer and agent-facing initiatives,…

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In a discovery dispute, Compass seeks to compel Redfin, a nonparty in its lawsuit against Zillow, to produce internal communications and documents allegedly showing coordination between Redfin and Zillow. At the same time, a Redfin spokesperson confirmed that the company’s rules restricting private listings had not gone into effect, after being announced almost simultaneously to…

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CoStar Group CEO Andy Florance dove again into the controversies surrounding rival portal Zillow in the company’s recent Q3 2025 earnings call. While discussing financials for the company and its subsidiaries—Homes.com, Apartments.com, Matterport, LoopNet, Domain and more—and the increasing traffic and success seen in the portal space, Florance pivoted to discuss an “uncomfortable but important…

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Above, Art Carter The following is an open letter from Art Carter, CEO of California Regional MLS (CRMLS) to Compass CEO Robert Reffkin regarding Reffkin’s recent statement on social media claiming CRMLS’s end user license agreement forces agents to surrender ownership of content, which RISMedia covered Oct. 14. Okay, Mr. Reffkin, you got some people’s…

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Compass CEO Robert Reffkin has been unafraid to challenge other industry figures. Reffkin has been an outspoken critic of the National Association of Realtors®’ (NAR) Clear Cooperation Policy, and Compass is currently engaged in litigation with Zillow over the latter’s new listing rules. Reffkin has previously claimed that Zillow, NAR and MLSs “exploit” agents in…

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