The multiple listing service serving Chicagoland sounded the alarm over the weekend that its stalemate with Zillow appeared to be boiling over.
In a message to its subscribers on Saturday, Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED) said it had learned that Zillow was reaching out directly to subscribers in the region, saying they were anticipating “disruptions to listings flowing to Zillow via MRED” starting the first week of January.
The message — which Inman has reviewed — was the latest in a battle brewing between the portal and the nation’s eighth-largest MLS over Zillow’s policy banning real estate listings that are marketed but not shared publicly on the MLS or on Zillow within a business day.
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At stake is whether listings from the widely used and MLS-sanctioned Private Listing Network will be displayed on the most commonly visited public real estate search portal in the nation and whether Zillow will maintain its access to the Chicago MLS feed.
“MRED has been alerted that Zillow’s Industry Relations team is contacting MRED subscribers, and allegedly threatening to contact sellers, stating that they are anticipating disruptions to listings flowing to Zillow via MRED beginning in the first week of January and that they are urgently working with brokerages to set up direct listing feeds,” the email said.
MRED previously suggested that Zillow was at risk of violating MRED rules and its license agreement with MRED. The latest email didn’t include that language.
“MRED does not understand the basis for this January timeline, as MRED has not provided Zillow with any notices of violations as of this date that would require a disconnection of their listing data feed,” the email said.
“MRED is in the process of asking Zillow to stop this misguided pressure campaign,” the MLS added.
MRED went on to say in the email that Zillow was working on establishing multi-year agreements directly with brokerages, which is an apparent attempt to preserve its source of listings in the region. The MLS asked its members to document any conversations they might have with Zillow in writing and share them with MRED.
The email further suggested that members contact Illinois regulators if they felt that Zillow’s rules were violating state law.
MRED has not responded to multiple requests for comment, including one sent Monday, since the issue first flared up in early November.
The MLS has sent a handful of messages to its broker-owners and its members, alerting them to the apparent breakdown in discussions between MRED and Zillow over the policy and future of the MLS’s Private Listing Network.
Agents across Chicagoland commonly use the Private Listing Network, which allows for-sale properties to be marketed outside individual brokerages before being entered into the public portal — and therefore before reaching Zillow.
Zillow has called the network a “hidden listing scheme” that violates its policy. Listings that violate Zillow’s Listing Access Standards are supposed to be banned from the platform for the life of the listing.
Zillow said its policy ensures broad public access to real estate listings in line with fair housing goals. Last month, the portal shared research that it said showed that private listing networks reinforce segregation in Chicago, which is among the most segregated cities in the U.S.
Zillow declined to respond to a request for comment.
