Compass Dismisses Antitrust Lawsuit Against Zillow Over Listing Policy

Compass is dismissing its antitrust lawsuit against Zillow over the listing portal giant’s listing access standards policy. The Robert Reffkin-helmed firm filed its motion to dismiss the lawsuit without prejudice, meaning that Compass could file another lawsuit against Zillow with similar claims in the future, in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on Wednesday. 

Compass said the decision to dismiss the lawsuit comes after Zillow clarified that it would not ban listings that were publicly marketed on the Compass family of websites or Redfin before marketing on Zillow. This clarification came after Zillow debuted Zillow Preview, a pre-marketing product for coming soon listings represented by agents at Keller Williams, Side, United Real Estate, HomeServices of America and REMAX.

In a press release, Compass said that the “end of the ‘Zillow Ban’ is a major victory for homesellers and their real estate professionals.” 

“Our goal has always been to give homeowners more choice to decide when, where and how to market their homes,”  Robert Reffkin, the chairman and CEO of Compass International Holdings, the parent company of Compass, said in a statement. “We are pleased to see that other brokerages are now recognizing the strong consumer demand for more options in how they sell their homes. Homeowners deserve more choices, not fewer choices.”

In an emailed statement a Zillow spokesperson wrote that Compass’s decision reflected Zillow’s belief that “the claims lacked merit.”

“The underlying issue remains: Private listing networks are not in the best interests of consumers, and they never have been. Restricting listings to hidden networks limits transparency, disadvantages buyers and sellers and undermines fair access to real estate information which is so critical in this housing affordability crisis,” the spokesperson added. “Zillow’s Listing Access Standards were introduced to protect core principles of competition, openness and access that support healthy markets and benefit homebuyers, sellers and agents.”

The spokesperson also clarified that Zillow’s policy still remains in effect and the company will “continue to choose not to display listings that were previously hidden from the public for the benefit of any one company.”

“Any suggestion that these standards are no longer being enforced is incorrect,” the spokesperson wrote. “Hidden listing networks that gate access to listings behind a registration wall or require buyers to work with a specific brokerage do not meet our standards and, to the extent Compass continues operating a network of inventory hidden in the shadows, those listings remain at odds with our standards.”

The spokesperson added that Zillow’s belief in broad access to listings and information is what motivated the company to launch Zillow Preview.

“The distinction is simple: Zillow Preview is public and expands access; private listing networks are closed and restrict it,” the spokesperson wrote. “We will always advocate for transparency and fairness for consumers.”

Originally filed in mid-June, Compass’s lawsuit focused on Zillow’s listing access standards policy, which went into effect in late June. Compass filed its motion for preliminary injunction seeking to prevent Zillow from enforcing the policy just days before the policy was set to take effect.

In early February, Judge Jeannette Vargas, who was overseeing the lawsuit, denied Compass’s motion stating that the brokerage did not show a likelihood of success on the merits of its case during a hearing regarding the motion held in mid-November 2025.