How does a brokerage looking to carve its own path navigate a dense web of hundreds of multiple listing services across the country?
If you’re the nation’s largest real estate brokerage, you look at their rules and rank them all on a five-star scale.
At least that’s what Compass did in its pursuit of rewriting how real estate listings are marketed in the U.S., according to some of the thousands of documents filed in court as part of a lawsuit Compass brought against Zillow last summer.
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As it prepared to scale up its 3-Phase Marketing Strategy, which includes two off-MLS phases, Compass set out internally to get a clear view of the rules that MLSs — big and small — had in place that might intersect with the plan.
The most restrictive MLS, according to the ranking, is the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.
That should, perhaps, come as no surprise. Compass and NWMLS — which is based in Seattle — have been battling for the past year. At one point, NWMLS cut off Compass’ license to its IDX feed. Compass responded by suing the multiple listing service, saying it was acting as a “monopolist” in its markets.
“NWMLS receiving the most restrictive score is unsurprising, as it has consistently favored control and rigid, one-size-fits-all mandates over homeowner choice and the judgment of real estate professionals,” a Compass spokesperson said in a statement to Inman.
NWMLS declined to comment for this story.
The ranking reflected things as they stood in January 2025. That was a moment when the National Association of Realtors was preparing to announce changes to its Clear Cooperation Policy that required listings to be entered into an MLS within one day.
Compass was advocating for outright repeal of the policy. NAR ended up keeping it in place, while also adding options for delayed marketing that industry insiders considered a win for Compass and its CEO Robert Reffkin.
“This looks like Reffkin got his way,” eXp Realty CEO Leo Pareja wrote to a colleague on the day the NAR news was announced. The comment was made in a text message that was included in the court documents.
It’s not clear how the list would stand if it was created today, as NAR empowered MLSs to create their own timelines for allowing brokers to market properties for a time off-MLS before they must be entered into the MLS.
The rankings
The rankings show that a number of large MLSs had policies in place that Compass viewed as friendly to its cause.
A ranking of one on the scale would indicate that an MLS does not enforce the Clear Cooperation Policy. On the other end, a five was regarded as “hostile,” and with “more strict rules than CCP – no office exclusives” and no public pre-marketing of listings.
A three on the scale meant that an MLS allowed for Compass Coming Soon listings to be marketed for one business day.
Five MLSs — Realtracs, MLS Property Information Network, Garden State MLS, New Jersey MLS and the Bay Area Real Estate Information Services — were deemed to have what Compass viewed at the time as the friendliest policies.
Some of the largest multiple listing services in the nation, including Bright MLS, the Houston Association of Realtors and MRED in Chicago, ranked two out of five, according to the list.
Aside from MLS rankings, a separate analysis also created by Compass — and revealed in the documents — showed that nearly 20 MLSs had policies in place that the brokerage believed would be out of compliance with Zillow’s updated Listing Access Standard.
Compass believed MLSs with policies allowing for a Compass Coming Soon listing to be marketed off-MLS for more than a day would violate Zillow’s rule. And indeed, Zillow and Chicago’s MRED MLS have been trading barbs over that multiple listing service’s long-standing Private Listing Network.
In a message to its subscribers in December, 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, though it’s not clear if that’s happened.
Neither Zillow nor MRED responded to a request for comment.
“MLSs are not regulatory bodies and should not fine or ban agents for fulfilling their fiduciary duty to act in their clients’ best interests,” the Compass spokesperson said. “Compass believes in homeowner choice, giving sellers the flexibility to decide when and where to market their homes.”
