In more news surrounding the hot topic of private listings, a Washington state bill designed to severely restrict private listings has been signed into law after passing both the Senate and the House earlier this year. The bill was proposed in the Senate back in January, with the goal of explicitly banning real estate brokers…
The mad dash for premarket power is showing no signs of slowing, as mega-brokerage eXp announced that it is striking a listing partnership with Realtor.com®, Homes.com and ComeHome.com (HouseCanary’s portal in Google Search), just 24 hours after Zillow launched a similar partnership with five other big national companies. Starting next month, eXp agents will be…
It was April of 2025 that portal behemoth Zillow announced its “listing access standards,” taking a hard stance against so-called “selective access” to listings. As some brokerages—most notably Compass—pushed for “private exclusive” marketing plans, Zillow argued that properties for sale should be listed everywhere. Just under a year later, the company has joined what has…
Above, Howard “Hoby” Hanna Amid the broader—and increasingly complex—debate over private listings, one of the more independent-minded independent brokerages announced this week that it is launching its own private network as a “strategic initiative,” balancing the demand for so-called “seller choice” with MLS policies the company has previously criticized. HannaList, announced this week by Howard…
The headlines about the real estate industry are everywhere. Compass acquired Anywhere Real Estate to create the largest real estate company by agent count. Zillow and Compass are locked in a Goliath-versus-Goliath legal battle over private listings. A wave of RESPA-related lawsuits alleges undisclosed referral kickbacks between real estate agents and mortgage companies. And then…
Compass used its fourth-quarter 2025 earnings call to unveil a sweeping three-year exclusive alliance with Rocket Companies that will push the brokerage’s private and coming-soon listings onto Redfin—a direct shot at the “Zillow ban” just weeks after a federal judge handed Compass a significant setback in its antitrust lawsuit against the portal. Under the deal,…
State legislatures across the U.S. have been seeing new bills that would restrict private real estate listings, with mandates that such listings also be publicly marketed. Wisconsin enacted such legislation in December 2025 (to take effect in January 2027), while another bill of this nature is under consideration in Washington state. Now, the Illinois legislature…
The discourse around private listing policies has become a headline controversy over the past year, and with recent massive consolidation, the debate over limited marketing strategies is only going to become more important. But as brokerages seek an advantage in the post commission-lawsuit landscape, simply being in favor of or against private listings doesn’t take…
Editor’s Note: The RISMedia series Legislative Round-Up looks at pending and passed federal and state-level legislation that impacts real estate professionals. HUD proposes eliminating a key fair housing rule On Wednesday, January 14, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) published a new rule proposal into the Federal Register that would change how the…
Private listings are at the center of one of the most headline-grabbing litigations in real estate right now. Compass has sued Zillow over its new “listing access standards” program, which removes listings not listed on MLSs within one business day of being publicly marketed from Zillow’s platform. While the Zillow and Compass litigation unfolds in…
| Newer Posts | Older Posts |