The two-day hearing could decide whether Zillow will continue to receive a feed of Chicago-area listings while its antitrust case against MLS and major brokerages progresses.
Zillow, MRED and Compass are back in federal court in Chicago this week for a two-day hearing that could determine whether Zillow will continue to receive Chicago-area listing feeds while the antitrust case against MLSs and large brokerages progresses.
The July 1-2 hearing in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois is not a trial and is not expected to determine the ultimate merits of Zillow’s case. Instead, the court will consider Zillow’s preliminary injunction, which would prevent MRED from shutting down Zillow’s listing feed while the broader litigation proceeds.
Contents of this week’s public hearing
Zillow filed an antitrust lawsuit against MRED and Compass on May 12, accusing the Chicago-area MLS and the nation’s largest brokerage firm of illegally colluding to threaten Zillow’s access to listings in the area.
The immediate fight centered around Zillow’s Listing Access Standards, the portal’s policy that restricts some listings from being sold privately before being shared more widely. Zillow claimed that Compass and MRED were attempting to force the portal to display a list of Compass that did not comply with these standards, or risk losing access to MRED’s feed.
The dispute further escalated on May 20, when MRED followed through on its threat to cut off access to Zillow’s listing data. MRED said Zillow no longer has a license to display the listings and is in violation of its contract and federal copyright law. The impact was immediate, with Zillow’s number of active Chicago listings dropping from nearly 5,000 at the start of the day to a low of 699 around noon Central time, before rebounding to 2,070 about an hour later.
Two days later, U.S. District Judge John Tharp Jr. granted Zillow’s request for a temporary restraining order, requiring MRED to restore Zillow’s access to its MLS-derived listings.
This week’s hearing is the next step in the fight, with Zillow asking the court for a preliminary injunction to prevent MRED from cutting off its publicly traded feed while its broader antitrust case proceeds. A trial date for this case has not yet been set.
MRED and Compass pushed back against Zillow’s framework, arguing that the dispute was about legitimate MLS rules, seller selection, and whether Zillow could continue to receive MLS product data while refusing to display certain products as permitted by MRED policies.
The stakes exceed the Chicago listing
The stakes aren’t just about whether some products will appear on Zillow in the Chicago area. The lawsuit focuses on the larger issue of controlling property data and who decides how homes move from sellers and listing agents to MLSs, portals and consumers.
Zillow positions its listing access standards as a transparency policy, arguing that homes sold to some buyers should be available to all buyers. MRED and Compass framed similar struggles as a matter of seller choice, arguing that homeowners and their agents should be able to take advantage of private listing networks and tiered marketing strategies without being penalized by dominant portals.
This groove has been forming for months. MRED partnered with Compass to expand its private listing network across the country, but Zillow has argued that the private listing network limits access to housing inventory and undermines transparency. While the Chicago-based MLS has defended PLN as a tool for sellers seeking flexibility, Zillow has consistently argued that homes sold off the open market can harm sellers and buyers.
The dispute extends outside the courtroom as well. After MRED cut down on Zillow’s feed in May, Zillow, Compass, Redfin and others launched a flurry of social media and advertising campaigns targeting agents, brokers and consumers. Compass promoted a “Zillow Doesn’t Have All Listings” campaign on social media accounts associated with the company’s various brokerage brands, while Zillow ran ads claiming MRED had cut off agents’ access to listings. Redfin also joined the public messaging battle, telling consumers they still had access to the full suite of MRED listings.
For Zillow, a victory this week would mean it would maintain access to MRED’s list feed while the case progresses to trial. For MRED and Compass, a victory means access to Zillow’s feeds will no longer be protected by court order while the lawsuit proceeds.
The incident has attracted attention from areas other than the immediate conflict. CoStar, Homes.com’s parent company, had previously sought permission to file a court brief supporting MRED and Compass, but a judge denied that request earlier this month. This attempted intervention highlighted how closely Zillow’s rivals are monitoring the case and how the Chicago conflict could shape the next phase of the Portal Wars.
what to expect next
Zillow and Compass confirmed to Inman that Zillow’s expected witnesses include Errol Samuelson, Zillow’s chief industrial development officer, Jeremy Hoffman, Zillow’s chief financial officer, and Lawrence Wu, an antitrust expert and president of NERA Economic Consulting. Witnesses for MRED and Compass are expected to include Compass CEO Robert Refkin, MRED CEO Rebecca Jensen, and MRED Managing Director and Chief Technology Officer Chris Harran.
Following the hearing, both parties are scheduled to simultaneously file post-hearing briefs on July 9th and responses on July 13th. A ruling on Zillow’s request for a preliminary injunction is expected some time after they are filed.
In a post published Monday, Zillow characterized the hearing as a fight over whether buyers and sellers in Chicagoland will continue to have access to the vast listing listings on the nation’s most-visited real estate portal. The company said it will allege that MRED and Compass colluding to block Zillow’s listing feed violated antitrust laws.
In its own statement to Inman, Compass framed the lawsuit as a battle over consumer choice and seller marketing options.
“This is a matter of consumer choice, not Zillow’s preference,” a Compass spokesperson said in an email. “There is consumer demand for pre-market and tiered marketing. Some sellers want privacy during staging. Some sellers want to test pricing before a general release. Some buyers specifically want pre-market access. Zillow’s policy penalizes sellers who exercise these choices by hiding active listings from buyers after a home reaches the MLS.”
The court’s decision after this week’s hearing does not end the case, but it could determine the operating rules for one of the nation’s largest MLS markets while the case continues, and could indicate how much room MLSs, brokerages and portals have to fight over private listings before larger legal issues are resolved.
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