Compass Sues Seattle-Area MLS in Battle Over Private Listings
Since last summer, Compass has been pushing the NAR and the roughly 550 MLSs across the US to enact or maintain rules that would permit its agents to “pre-market” homes.
Photographer: David Paul Morris/BloombergCompass Inc. ratcheted up its fight to change how homes are sold online, filing a lawsuit against a Seattle-area group the brokerage alleges is engaging in anticompetitive practices.
The suit, filed Friday in Seattle federal court, argues that the Northwest Multiple Listing Service is illegally restricting Compass agents from publicly marketing properties that were previously shared on an exclusive basis, as well as homes touted as “coming soon” on the company’s website. Compass, the biggest residential brokerage in the US by sales volume, also contends that NWMLS is violating homeowners’ rights with the policy.