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A two-day hearing could determine whether Zillow continues receiving Chicago-area listing feeds while its antitrust case against the MLS and brokerage giant moves forward.
Zillow, MRED and Compass will return to federal court in Chicago this week for a two-day hearing that could determine whether Zillow continues receiving Chicago-area listing feeds while its antitrust case against the MLS and brokerage giant moves forward.
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 decide the ultimate merits of Zillow’s lawsuit. Instead, the court will consider Zillow’s request for a preliminary injunction, which would keep MRED from suspending Zillow’s listing feeds while the broader case proceeds.
What this week’s hearing is about
Zillow filed its antitrust lawsuit against MRED and Compass on May 12, accusing the Chicago-area MLS and the nation’s largest brokerage of illegally conspiring to threaten Zillow’s access to listings in the region.
The immediate fight centered on Zillow’s Listing Access Standards, the portal’s policy for restricting some listings that are marketed privately before being shared more broadly. Zillow alleged that Compass and MRED were trying to force the portal to display Compass listings that did not comply with those standards, or risk losing access to MRED’s feed.
The dispute escalated on May 20, when MRED followed through on its threat to suspend Zillow’s access to its listing data. MRED said Zillow no longer had a license to display the listings and was violating its agreement and federal copyright law. The impact was immediate, with active Chicago listings on Zillow falling from nearly 5,000 earlier that 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 Court Judge John Tharp, Jr. granted Zillow’s request for a temporary restraining order, requiring MRED to restore Zillow’s access to listings that originate in the MLS.
This week’s hearing is the next step in that fight, and Zillow is asking the court for a preliminary injunction that would keep MRED from cutting off its listing feeds while the broader antitrust case proceeds. A trial date for the suit has not yet been set.
MRED and Compass have pushed back on Zillow’s framing, arguing that the dispute is about lawful MLS rules, seller choice and whether Zillow can continue receiving MLS listing data while refusing to display certain listings that are allowed under MRED policies.
The stakes go beyond Chicago listings
The stakes go beyond whether some listings appear on Zillow in the Chicago area. The case centers on a larger question of control over listing data and who gets to decide how homes move from sellers and listing agents to MLSs, portals and consumers.
Zillow has framed its Listing Access Standards as a transparency policy, arguing that homes marketed to some buyers should be available to all buyers. MRED and Compass have framed the same fight as a seller-choice issue, arguing that homeowners and their agents should be able to use private listing networks and phased marketing strategies without being penalized by a dominant portal.
That divide has been building for months. MRED expanded its Private Listing Network nationwide in partnership with Compass, while Zillow has argued that private listing networks limit access to housing inventory and undermine transparency. The Chicago-based MLS has defended the PLN as a tool for sellers seeking flexibility, but Zillow has consistently maintained that homes sold outside the open market can harm sellers and buyers.
The fight has also spilled well beyond the courtroom. After MRED cut Zillow’s feed in May, Zillow, Compass, Redfin and others launched dueling social media and advertising campaigns aimed at agents, brokers and consumers. Compass marketed its “Zillow doesn’t have all the listings” campaign across social media accounts tied to its various brokerage brands, while Zillow ran ads saying MRED had cut off access to agents’ listings. Redfin also entered the public messaging fight, telling consumers it still had access to the full suite of MRED listings.
For Zillow, a win this week would mean maintaining access to MRED’s listing feeds while the case moves toward trial. For MRED and Compass, a win would mean Zillow’s access to the feed is no longer protected by court order while the case moves forward.
The case has drawn attention from outside the immediate fight as well. Homes.com parent corporation CoStar previously sought permission to file an amicus brief backing MRED and Compass, but the judge denied that request earlier this month. The attempted intervention underscored how closely Zillow’s rivals are watching the case and how the Chicago dispute could shape the next phase of the portal wars.
What to expect next
Zillow and Compass confirmed to Inman that expected witnesses for Zillow include Zillow Chief Industry Development Officer Errol Samuelson, Zillow Chief Financial Officer Jeremy Hofmann and Lawrence Wu, an antitrust expert and president of NERA Economic Consulting. Expected witnesses for MRED and Compass include Compass CEO Robert Reffkin, MRED CEO Rebecca Jensen and MRED Managing Director and Chief Technology Officer Chris Haran.
After the hearing, the parties are expected to submit simultaneous post-hearing briefs on July 9 and responses on July 13. A ruling on Zillow’s preliminary injunction request is expected sometime after those filings.
In a post published Monday, Zillow framed the hearing as a fight over whether Chicagoland buyers and sellers will continue to have access to a large swath of listings on the most-visited real estate portal in the country. The company said it will argue that MRED and Compass conspired to cut off Zillow’s listing feed in violation of antitrust law.
Compass, in its own statement to Inman, framed the case as a fight over consumer choice and seller marketing options.
“This is about consumer choice, not Zillow’s preferences,” a Compass spokesperson shared over email. “There is consumer demand for pre-market and phased marketing. Some sellers want privacy during staging. Some want to test pricing before a public launch. Some buyers specifically seek pre-market access. Zillow’s policy punishes sellers for exercising these choices by hiding their active listings from buyers once the home reaches the MLS.”
The court’s decision after this week’s hearing will not end the case, but it could determine the operating rules for one of the country’s largest MLS markets while the litigation continues, and signal how much room MLSs, brokerages and portals may have to fight over private listings before the larger legal questions are resolved.
