Compass sues Zillow for alleged monopoly energy over actual property listings

One of many largest U.S. residential actual property brokerage companies is taking up actual property large Zillow over “shopper alternative.”

On Monday, actual property brokerage Compass filed a 60-page criticism in Manhattan federal court docket, claiming that Zillow is badly refusing to record houses on its website that have been first listed elsewhere.

“The Zillow Ban seeks to make sure that all residence listings on this nation are steered on to its dominant search platform so Zillow can monetize every residence itemizing and defend its monopoly,” the criticism states, addin that “[i]n a free and aggressive market, opponents’ merchandise and techniques ought to rise and fall on advantage—not the whims of a monopolist gatekeeper like Zillow.”

“This lawsuit is about defending shopper alternative,” Compass Founder & CEO Robert Reffkin mentioned in an announcement to FOX Enterprise. “Nobody firm ought to have the ability to ban brokers or listings just because they don’t comply with that firm’s enterprise mannequin. That’s not competitors. It’s coercion. Think about if Amazon banned a vendor for providing a product on their very own web site first. That’s what Zillow is doing in actual property. Customers ought to have the appropriate to decide on how they promote their houses.”

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Compass, based mostly in Manhattan, is searching for an injunction towards Zillow to pressure them to vary their practices, in addition to financial damages.

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A “For Sale” signal stands at a home in Miami, Florida, U.S. April 16, 2025.  (Marco Bello/File Photograph / Reuters)

Zillow, based mostly in Seattle, has about 160 million houses in its database, receives 227 million distinctive guests a month and obtained 2.4 billion visits between January and March, in line with Reuters. They referred to as Compass’ claims “unfounded” and instructed FOX Enterprise that it “will vigorously defend towards them.”

The Zillow app on a smartphone organized in Germantown, New York, US, on Tuesday, July 25, 2023.  (Gabby Jones/Bloomberg / Getty Photographs)

“When an inventory is publicly marketed, it needs to be accessible to all consumers – throughout all platforms, together with Zillow,” an announcement from a Zillow spokesperson mentioned.

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“Hiding listings creates a fragmented market, limits shopper alternative and creates boundaries to homeownership, which is dangerous for consumers, sellers, and the business at giant, particularly on this stock and affordability-constrained setting,” the spokesperson added.

Reuters contributed to this report.