Compass attacks NWMLS claims as ‘misleading and self-serving’

According to Compass, if NWMLS “truly cared” about companies “free-riding,” it would remove Zillow as a member of the MLS. 

“After all, Zillow — a NWMLS member — takes all NWMLS listings without contributing a single listing back to NWMLS. In fact, by that same logic, NWMLS itself could be considered the ultimate free-rider: brokerages provide the inventory that gives NWMLS its very purpose, yet NWMLS takes that inventory for free, forces brokers to participate under threat of exclusion, monetizes those listings by selling the data to third parties, and then charges brokers dues to access the very listings they provide,” the statement reads. 

Compass claims that it “shares more listings with MLSs than any other brokerage across almost every major market.” The firm said this is true even in spite of its three-phase marketing strategy, under which listings are withheld from the MLS and marketed as office exclusives during the first phase.

Compass added that it co-brokers with agents at all firms and that agents at other companies rely on these listings to get their buyers the desired property.

“Does the NWMLS also accuse every other brokerage that depends on these shared listings of being ‘free-riders’?,” the statement reads. “Their logic simply doesn’t hold up.”

The company also addresses NWMLS’s claims that office exclusives “destroy competition” and “harm consumers,” claiming that the evidence shows otherwise. 

“For over 50 years, Office Exclusives have been used by tens of thousands of homeowners every year in 49 of the 50 states in this country, and all of those real estate markets continue to be healthy and thriving without any evidence that competition has been destroyed,” Compass wrote in its statement.

Additionally, Compass claims that one Washington-based brokerage “holds an outsized influence” on NWMLS. The company occupies six board seats on the MLS, which Compass alleges it uses to “disproportionately serve its own interests.”

The company Compass is referencing is Windermere Real Estate, which is not a brokerage but a franchisor that offers licenses to individuals and groups to operate under the Windermere brand. So while executives from six Windermere firms are on the NWMLS board, they represent six different brokerages. 

Although Compass has not named Windermere in a lawsuit, Reffkin and Windermere co-president OB Jacobi sparred on Instagram in late March over NWMLS’s listing policy. 

Regardless, Compass said this shows that NWMLS “does not care about ensuring fairness.” 

While NWMLS’s rules do not allow for office exclusives, Compass claims that the MLS doesn’t care if a brokerage withholds listings as long as they are not advertised online, arguing that “NWMLS just wants to have a digital monopoly.”

“NWMLS isn’t protecting consumers, they are protecting their own power and business model,” the statement reads. “Compass competes by empowering homeowners to choose how they want to market and sell their home. NWMLS doesn’t care what homeowners want; it uses its immense power as a monopoly to dictate what homeowners must do. No amount of talk about ‘fairness’ or ‘free-riding’ can disguise that fundamental truth.”

Filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle in April, Compass’s lawsuit alleges that NWMLS is a monopoly, and that its listing policy is harming competition and negatively impacting Compass by not allowing for office exclusive or private exclusive listings.

Compass also alleges this harms home buyers and sellers, as the policy prevents Compass from utilizing its three-phase marketing plan.

NWMLS is not Realtor-affiliated, so it does not have to follow MLS policies set forth by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), whose Clear Cooperation Policy (CCP) for listings does allow for office exclusives.