Zillow's battle against private listings may be coming for the Chicago-area MLS.
The online home search giant has warned Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED) that its Private Listing Network -- which makes listings available to all brokers in the area but keeps them off public websites like Zillow -- violates Zillow's new listing standards.
In a message sent to some managing brokers obtained by The Real Deal, MRED, which operates the region's MLS, said some managing brokers have received phone calls from Zillow regarding the Private Listing Network (PLN). The email said Zillow's new Listing Access Standards "may result in certain PLN listings not being displayed on Zillow's property search websites."
Zillow is not yet enforcing its listing rules in the Chicago market, according to both Zillow and MRED, meaning listings that were previously on the PLN are still showing up on Zillow, when agents and their clients decide to go more public with their offerings after initially testing the private network. But the dispute adds another layer to Zillow's rules that were largely brought as a reaction to office-exclusive listings by brokerages like Compass.
"MRED issued a notice to our managing brokers after receiving reports that some had been informed their active listings may not appear on Zillow if they had previously been in MRED's Private Listing Network," MRED CEO Rebecca Jensen said in a statement.
Zillow has been working with MRED for months to address the dispute, a Zillow spokesperson said. The company has not sent any warnings to agents about their listings and has only reached out to managing brokers. Elsewhere, Zillow began enforcing the rules in June.
"We have been attempting to work with them since the spring and have not yet sent listing access violations in MRED," a Zillow spokesperson said in a statement. "This is a play for MRED to protect its own private listing network. Hidden listing schemes disadvantage sellers and buyers, and that's what this is."
The Zillow spokesperson also said 30 percent of buyers searching in Chicago are searching from outside the area, meaning they may not have a local broker and won't see listings on the private network.
In its internal message, MRED defended the PLN and warned Zillow may violate its licensing agreement with MRED if it withholds certain listings from its website. The agreement "requires Zillow to access and display all licensed listings without bias or restriction," MRED said.
"MRED takes seriously our responsibility to license your data and to ensure that every company receiving that data complies fully with its license obligations," the message said.
MRED has held up the PLN, launched in 2016, as a fairer alternative to office exclusive listings that are fully off the MLS. It is also largely backed by supporters and opponents of Clear Cooperation Policy alike as a way to keep listings out of public channels but ensure they are seen by all the brokers in the market. Buyers working with a Chicago broker can also use an app called Zenlist to see PLN listings.
Compass filed a lawsuit against Zillow over the new standards in June, which hinted at the dispute playing out now. Compass' initial complaint recounted a meeting between Compass CEO Robert Reffkin and Zillow executives. In the meeting, Reffkin brought up MRED's private listing network while defending Compass' network. Zillow Chief Financial Officer Jeremy Hofmann said Zillow "will no longer allow that to happen," according to the complaint.
Zillow's rules state that a listing must be entered into the MLS and available to be published on Zillow within one business day of being publicly marketed, closely mirroring the National Association of Realtors' Clear Cooperation Policy. However, Clear Cooperation Policy allows MLS-wide private listing services like MRED's.
Zillow considers public marketing to include "multi-brokerage private listing networks" and "marketing or sharing listings through any network that involves multiple brokerages," which appears to be where the policy conflicts with the PLN.
Listings that are made only on the private listing network and not marketed elsewhere or later shared online in line with Zillow's standards, according to the Frequently Asked Questions section on Zillow's website. So only listings that move from private to public, or are private but advertised through social media or a brokerage's website, would violate the rules.
Zillow's standards say that it will give brokers warnings for their first and second listing that violate the rules without taking them down. The third non-compliant listing will be blocked from Zillow, along with any further non-compliant listings. Any future listings from the same broker that don't violate the rules won't be blocked.
Neither company said definitively what its next move is. Zillow did not say when it will begin enforcing its listing standards in Chicago, and MRED offered no specific details on its plans for the PLN.
Thad Wong, the co-founder of @properties Christie's International Real Estate, said MRED is "standing up for its professionals" by defending the PLN. Wong, whose firm was bought by Compass in 2024, has opposed Clear Cooperation Policy and argued private listings give sellers more choice in how they sell their home.
"While some MLSs have chosen to align with portals that promote a one-size-fits-all model, MRED is championing innovation, entrepreneurship, and competition," Wong said in a statement provided by a spokesperson.