As the next heated step in its nationwide battle against MLS incumbents, Compass filed more than a dozen federal antitrust lawsuits against 15 MLSs today, carrying out a promised threat to take a bitter, long-running dispute over restrictions on off-MLS marketing to the courtroom. According to a release, Compass is accusing the MLSs in question…
In the face of a rapid and accelerating shift in the MLS landscape, the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) announced today that it is introducing two new optional MLS policies, focused on topics at the forefront of the ongoing debate—namely, data and membership—along with tweaks to MLS committee eligibility and a new policy statement. According…
A midterm election that saw both historic turnout and spending ended with big wins for the Democratic party nearly across the board. While voters clearly went to the ballot box seeking change, can real estate expect the landslide result to boost a sluggish housing market, bring down rates or spark more regulatory scrutiny into housing…
“Is Open Real Estate a national MLS?” That question, proffered by Open Real Estate itself on its website as soon as the initiative was launched, made it clear the founders—namely, AGNT (eXp and NextHome), HomeServices of America, Real REMAX Group and Keller Williams—knew that at least some in the industry would see that project in…
Editor’s note: The COURT REPORT is RISMedia’s weekly look at current and upcoming lawsuits, investigations and other legal developments around real estate. NAR wants Compass’s data and depositions on private listings, CCP Compass is not directly involved in a long-running lawsuit filed by the now-defunct PLS.com, which sued the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) and…
Three separate federal lawsuits involving Compass and seven different MLSs are now making their way through the (often slow-moving) civil litigation process, marking a clear new level of conflict between incumbents defending long-running industry practices and deep-pocketed disruptors with new priorities. The confrontation comes after more than a year of fast-escalating tensions, in which the…
A third MLS today publicly rejected threats from Compass over listing rules, as New York-based OneKey MLS joined CRMLS in California and Unlock MLS in Texas in refusing to change policies despite significant back-channel pressure and legal threats from the mega-brokerage. In a release early this morning, OneKey CEO Richard Haggerty said the MLS would…
In an entirely expected move last Friday, Oct. 16, Compass filed a federal antitrust lawsuit against California-based CRMLS, asking a judge to prevent the MLS from enforcing its “mandatory submission” policies that the brokerage argues violates antitrust policies. As it has continued to campaign for changes to certain MLS policies, a Compass spokesperson told RISMedia…
Compass and multiple top executives are facing a class-action lawsuit from an Anywhere stockholder focused on the merger between the two companies, with the plaintiff claiming that back-channel efforts to get the deal approved created risk for the company and misled investors. Filed late last week in federal court in New York City, the lawsuit…
Accusing the mega-brokerage of conducting a scorched earth—and illegal—pressure campaign, California-based CRMLS said it has rejected a Compass “demand” that it alter rules around public marketing, and is preparing its own legal and public response to what it characterizes as self-serving and cynical moves to consolidate market share. CRMLS General Counsel Ed Zorn, in a…
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