A day after Zillow updated its listing access standards, Compass decided to drop the lawsuit, saying the changes gave home sellers “more options.”
Compass has filed papers to dismiss a lawsuit against Zillow over the portal’s listing access standards, according to an announcement Wednesday.
The New York City-based brokerage said the decision to dismiss the case without prejudice, meaning it could refile the case in the future, was because Zillow changed its Listing Access Standards (LAS) to be more lenient, leaving room for listing agents and their clients to properly market upcoming listings on its own platform and other platforms such as Redfin, Realtor.com, and Homes.com without fear that the listing would be banned.
robert refkin
Robert Refkin, founder of Compass and chairman and CEO of Compass International Holdings, said the changes resolve the Zillow LAS and brokerage issues, saying the current language gives listing agents and home sellers “more choice.”
“Our goal has always been to give homeowners more options to decide when, where and how to sell their home,” he said in a written statement. “We are pleased to see that other agents are beginning to recognize the strong consumer demand for more choice in how they sell their home. Homeowners deserve more choice, not less.”
Zillow rolled out an updated LAS on Tuesday to coincide with the debut of Zillow Preview. Zillow Preview is a new platform that allows agents and sellers to “pre-market” their listings while complying with local Multiple Listing Service (MLS) rules. Keller Williams, RE/MAX, HomeServices of America, United Real Estate, and Side have signed on as the first brokerage partners to use Preview.
The main change is to the previous requirement that listings be added to the MLS within 24 hours of being publicly sold and published on Zillow and other sites that receive MLS feeds. LAS currently only requires listing agents to make listings “widely accessible to the general public in a manner that provides open access,” without mentioning a 24-hour timeline or a requirement to post listings on Zillow.
Commenting on the Compass announcement, a Zillow spokesperson said the LAS change is not a change in direction, as the company’s policy continues to prohibit listings distributed through private listing networks.
“Zillow welcomes Compass’ decision to voluntarily dismiss the lawsuit,” they said in an emailed statement. “As we have said from the beginning, the claims are without merit, and the court’s preliminary injunction confirms that view. Our standards remain in effect, and Zillow will continue to choose not to display listings that were previously hidden from the public in the interest of specific companies.”
“Any suggestion that these standards are no longer in force is false,” they added. “Hidden property networks that restrict access to properties behind registration walls or require buyers to work with specific agents do not meet our standards.”
A spokesperson also told the New York-based company, “As long as Compass continues to operate its inventory network in the shadows, those listings will continue to be in conflict with our standards…The distinction is simple. Zillow Preview is public and expands access, while its private listing network is closed and restricted. We always advocate transparency and fairness to consumers.”
Compass’ filing effectively ends a nine-month legal battle in which the New York-based company argued that Zillow’s listing ban violated antitrust laws and caused competitive harm by stunting the growth of its three-phase marketing strategy (3PM), which involves starting a listing outside the MLS and moving to Coming Soon status if unsold. The final stage is widespread distribution through the MLS, with listings appearing on sites like Zillow.
Alongside the lawsuit, Compass filed a preliminary injunction asking the court to stop Zillow from enforcing the standards until the lawsuit is resolved.
The two companies engaged in a series of lawsuits throughout the summer of 2025. However, a four-day injunction hearing in November revealed Zillow and Compass’ respective communications regarding LAS, its purpose, how it applies to Compass’ private and exclusive products, and whether it would negatively impact Compass’ business strategy.
Judge Janet Vargas denied Compass’ injunction in February, saying the company’s lawyers had not shown a likelihood of success on the merits, including allegations that Zillow formed a monopoly and conspired with Redfin to harm Compass. As explained in a previous Inman article, home sellers are free to continue using Compass’ 3PM strategy despite the Zillow policy, Vargas said.
The company said it had no intention of closing the case, and Levkin said the denial of the injunction was “not a loss.”
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