by Jotham Sederstrom | Apr 25, 2025 | Industry, News Feed
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Compass on Friday filed suit against Washington-based Northwest MLS, calling the multiple listing service a “monopolist” while sweeping the Seattle area’s leading brokerages into the rapidly escalating private-listings drama.
The 39-page suit in federal court claims the MLS serving 2,500 member offices in Washington and Oregon has “no meaningful competitors,” and that, as a broker-owned multiple listing service, the brokerage owners in the Seattle area with controlling stakes have an interest in limiting competition.
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“NWMLS is a monopolist and a combination of competing real estate brokers,” Compass states in the opening lines of the suit, filed in the Western District of Washington. “Nearly 100% of the residential real estate transactions by Seattle area real estate brokers are listed on NWMLS, and NWMLS has no meaningful competitors,” meaning no rival MLSs.
Northwest MLS is the sole named defendant, but Windermere Real Estate Services is referred in the suit as the “largest real estate brokerage in Washington State,” and at least six Windermere-affiliated professionals sit on Northwest MLS’s 15-seat Board of Directors.
Besides Windermere, other board members hail from affiliates of Century 21, RE/MAX and Keller Williams, among others.
“Its decisions are made by agreement among competitors as well,” the suit alleges. “Its Board of Directors is comprised of competitors, with most of the directors being affiliated with the longstanding traditional real estate companies in the Seattle area and six (including the current Chairperson and Vice Chairperson) affiliated with the largest real estate brokerage in Washington state (Windermere Real Estate Services Company).”
Spokespeople for Northwest MLS and Windermere Real Estate Services did not immediately respond to Inman’s requests for comment on Friday night.
The New York Times first reported news of the lawsuit on Friday.
The lawsuit is only the latest in an ever expanding drama over private listings and who has control over them in the northwest territory of the United States, but namely Washington state, where the MLS covers a majority of its counties.
The conflict began in late March when Compass CEO Robert Reffkin criticized NWMLS, describing it on Instagram as uniquely restrictive. Reffkin’s comments stemmed from Compass’ efforts to expand the listings it markets privately before posting them to an MLS.
The feud erupted on the same day as the National Association of Realtors announced it would uphold its Clear Cooperation Policy requiring Realtors to put their listings into NAR-affiliated MLSs within a day of public marketing — while also introducing a new delayed listing category. Clear Cooperation had been fiercely debated, and some had looked forward to a decision from NAR to settle the matter on private listings once and for all.
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A few days after the initial spat, a homeowner group, Washington Homeowner Rights, threatened to sue NWMLS for its requirements, which they said forced sellers to “compromise [their] privacy or security just to get [their] home sold.” The group also lamented the tracking of days on market, which they said led to significant price drops.
Compass supported the group’s mission, saying that NWMLS rules were created to benefit the MLS, not consumer rights.
“We’re proud to support Washington homeowners who are asking the right question: Why are they the only ones in America without a choice in how they sell their homes?”
All of this led to NWMLS temporarily suspending Compass’ IDX on April 16. The feed was restored on April 17.
NWMLS leadership initially refused to comment on the IDX suspension; however, Compass Regional Vice President Cris Nelson said the brokerage didn’t understand why NWMLS shuttered its feed despite following the MLSs rules regarding private listings.
“Despite following NWMLS’s published rules, Compass’ IDX feed was suspended without warning — impacting our clients and agents alike,” Compass Regional Vice President Cris Nelson told Inman. “NWMLS is a broker-owned MLS and is the only MLS in the country that prohibits agents from marketing a property on the internet — privately or publicly — unless it’s listed in the MLS.”
“…We launched a compliant Private Exclusive marketing strategy using ‘non-exclusive’ and ‘unenforceable’ listing agreements — both of which, since the founding of NWMLS in 1984, have not been eligible for submission into the MLS,” Nelson added. “This is a stark example of monopolistic control, with NWMLS having 100 percent market share of real estate agents, that limits homeowner choice, stifles competition, and sets a dangerous precedent for broker accountability and market fairness.”
A couple of days after the suspension drama, NWMLS finally offered its side of the story, clarifying that the suspension was done on purpose after failed negotiations between Compass and NWMLS leaders over the brokerage’s private listings.
“The suspension was the result of Compass’ failure to input numerous of its own listings and share those listings with other member real estate firms and their clients in accordance with Northwest MLS’s rules,” the statement indicated. “Northwest MLS offered Compass a data license for its own listings, but Compass did not respond to that offer. Compass’ brokers access to all other Northwest MLS systems remained uninterrupted.”
“Northwest MLS worked with Compass on April 15th and 16th to facilitate Compass’ compliance with Northwest MLS’s rules,” the statement continued. “With Compass’ commitment that it would comply with Northwest MLS’s rules going forward, Northwest MLS reinstated the data license to Compass on April 17th.”
However, Compass reiterated its previous statements noting it “had already been following the rules” and claimed NWMLS had changed its policy regarding non-exclusive listing agreements in the days after Reffkin’s Instagram post critcizing NWMLS.
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This is a developing story and will be updated frequently.
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by Marian McPherson | Apr 25, 2025 | Industry, News Feed
One of Arizona’s largest brokerages, West USA Realty, has committed to following Zillow Group’s listing access standard. The firm is the third to formally support the portal’s ban on privately marketed listings.
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West USA Realty is the third brokerage to commit to Zillow Group’s controversial listing access standard, which bans privately marketed listings from being displayed on Zillow and Trulia.
Errol Samuelson | Photo credit: Zillow
“West USA Realty is joining others who share our belief that transparency is the foundation of a healthy real estate market,” Zillow Group Chief Development Officer Errol Samuelson said in a prepared statement.
“By joining us and many others across the industry in adopting these listing standards, they’re helping ensure that buyers, sellers, and agents have equal access to the same critical information when it matters most. This partnership strengthens our collective effort to foster a more open, competitive, and consumer-focused real estate experience in Arizona and beyond.”
West USA Realty is the largest regional brokerage in the Southwest with more than 3,000 agents across 16 offices in Arizona. West USA Realty Executive Vice President Nick Weitekamp said Zillow Group’s listing access standard, which is based on the National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) Clear Cooperation Policy (CCP), protects market transparency and enables consumers to make smart, data-driven homebuying and homeselling decisions.
“At West USA Realty, we believe that providing our clients with the most accurate and comprehensive information is essential to their success in the real estate market,” he said in a prepared statement.”By aligning with Zillow’s pro-consumer listing access standards, we’re reinforcing our responsibility to ensure sellers receive maximum visibility and reach the widest possible audience, and that buyers have a clear understanding of their choices.”
Nick Weitekamp | Credit: LinkedIn
“This commitment to transparency aligns perfectly with our promise to deliver exceptional service to both buyers and sellers alike in Arizona,” he added.
EXp Realty and NextHome were the first to commit to Zillow Group’s listing policy, which bans listings that aren’t added to the multiple listing service (MLS) within 24 hours of public marketing. The ban applies for the life of the listing, unless the seller delists — and then relists — the property under a different broker who commits to the portal’s standards.
The ban does not apply to “Coming Soon,” office exclusives, For Sale by Owner (FSBO) listings, rental listings or new construction listings sold by the builder. It also doesn’t apply to Delayed Marketing Exempt Listings, which allow homsellers to direct their broker to delay the public marketing of their listing through an IDX feed per NAR’s Multiple Listing Options for Sellers (MLOS) policy.
“EXp will always take a position that protects consumers first; that’s non-negotiable,” eXp Realty CEO Leo Pareja said on April 10, the day Zillow Group announced its ban. “We’re deeply committed to giving our clients the most transparent, comprehensive access to property listings in the market. Our new agreement with Zillow ensures that every eXp Realty listing has maximum visibility, creating a more efficient, trustworthy and open marketplace.”
EXp has since released an open-source homeseller consent form that lists the potential risks of using a private listing network (PLN) or utilizing Delayed Marketing Exempt Listings.
“Seller choice is foundational, but choice without truth is a disservice,” Pareja said of the form. “We believe the industry must lead with transparency, not tactics.”
Zillow Group plans to begin enforcing the ban in May.
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by Craig C. Rowe | Apr 25, 2025 | Industry, News Feed
Appraisal software company Aivre has hired computer vision company Restb.ai to help expedite its customer solution. A company case study found the software resulted in 50 percent time savings per appraisal.
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Appraisal software company Aivre has hired computer vision company Restb.ai to help expedite its customer solution, Inman learned in an April 24 statement.
A company case study stated that the addition of Restb.ai’s technology enables it to speed appraisal completion by more than 50 percent, or three hours per project, thus allowing Aivre to theoretically double the number of appraisals it can complete in a day.
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“Appraisers can instantly extract and classify key property features from photos, receive condition and quality scores for subject and comparable properties, and auto-populate GSE-compliant forms — without manually inputting or verifying the data,” the release stated.
Restb.ai’s computer vision is an AI that extracts data from still photography, learning to identify room contents and overall property quality with increasingly impressive accuracy. It’s been working in the residential real estate ecosystem for a number of years, largely through multiple listing services partnerships, and its effectiveness is compounded as it’s fed more photos.
It was announced in March that Restb.ai had been hired by 10 multiple listing services of late, affecting more than 45,000 agents. That announcement came after news in September that it had agreed to deals with 17 MLSs, at the time reaching 720,000 agents throughout the U.S. and Canada.
“We’re taking the first AI trained to autofill reports in UAD language to the next level through our joint efforts with Restb.ai,” said Jake Lew, Aivre founder and CEO, in the release. “Aivre frees appraisers from repetitive tasks, allowing them to focus on their expertise and deliver faster, more precise appraisals with greater efficiency.”
The case study Aivre conducted with Restb.ai segmented each step of an appraisal, listing the amount of time saved by use of the AI:
- Collecting and validating property details (e.g., lot size, legal description): 20 minutes
- On-site note-taking: 20 minutes
- Floor plan validation: 20 minutes
- Photo placement and labeling: 10 minutes
- Comp selection and scoring: 60 minutes
- Report typing: 60 minutes
“These gains aren’t just about speed — they’re also about accuracy,” said Nathan Brannen, Restb.ai’s chief product officer, in the release. “By automating more of the manual data fill appraisers enter into each report, we reduce human errors, increase consistency, and ultimately, enable appraisers to spend their energy analyzing and valuing the property.”
Restb.ai won the 2023 Inman Innovator Award in the Top Technology category.
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by Inman | Apr 25, 2025 | Industry, News Feed
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by Lillian Dickerson | Apr 25, 2025 | Industry, News Feed
The waterfront home on one of the Sunset Islands was listed for rent last week by Corcoran’s Isaac Lustgarten, who previously worked with the Alexanders at Official. The home spans 4,267 square feet and has four bedrooms.
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Once top luxury broker Oren Alexander has listed his waterfront Miami Beach home for rent for $55,000 per month with the assistance of a former colleague.
Isaac Lustgarten of Corcoran Group, who previously worked with Alexander at Official, listed the property at 1611 West 24th Street on the Sunset Islands last week.
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According to the listing, the property was built in 1938, but photos show what appears to be a recently remodeled home. Alexander bought the 4,267-square-foot house, which spans four bedrooms and four-and-a-half baths, in 2021 via an LLC, according to records, and paid $9.8 million for it.
Alexander’s primary residence is located on a neighboring Sunset Island. Lustgarten did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Oren, as well as his twin brother Alon Alexander and older brother Tal Alexander, are currently being held in a Brooklyn detention center while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges. The trial is scheduled for January 2026.
Oren and Tal launched Official Partners with Side in Miami and New York in 2022, alongside three business partners, after building their careers at Douglas Elliman over the course of 10 years. Alon was a private security executive for the family firm, Kent Security.
In addition to the federal charges, Alon and Oren face sexual battery charges by the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s office, and all three brothers face multiple civil lawsuits from women who allege that they drugged and/or sexually assaulted them. The brothers have denied all allegations.
Side also sued Oren, Tal and Official Partners last fall, alleging that they had defaulted on a $5 million loan that Side extended to them when launching their firm. The parties settled the lawsuit on April 18. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.
It was reported in February that the Alexander family was shopping around their Miami homes while the brothers were awaiting next steps in their trial, even as Side had requested a preliminary injunction to prevent them from selling or leasing those properties in any way, as some served as collateral on their loan — including the property at 1611 West 24th Street.
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by Taylor Anderson | Apr 25, 2025 | Industry, News Feed
Realty Executives Premiere and its 20 agents joined KW Premiere Properties to serve the greater Chicagoland. The firm transacted $130 million in sales volume last year.
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A Realty Executives franchise based in Chicago’s western suburbs has paired its 20-agent team with Keller Williams, according to a news release announcing the change.
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PRG Group, which was doing business as Realty Executives Premiere, will now affiliate with Keller Williams Premiere, according to the release.
Led for over three decades by Pat Callan, Realty Executives Premiere sold 277 units last year, or $130 million in sales volume.
“No one else came close to Keller Williams when we assessed the top brands in real estate for culture, training and technology,” Callan said in a statement. “Keller Williams is a place for agents to thrive.”
Callan will serve as senior advisor to Keller Williams Premiere Properties as part of the move.
“We are thrilled to welcome Pat and the exceptional agents of PRG Group, LLC to the KW family,” said Jeannine Prombo, Keller Williams Premiere Properties team leader.
HousingWire first reported the move by PRG Group.
The addition is only the latest change as Keller Williams battles other mega firms to attract and retain teams.
Last month, Austin James Realty, an independent brokerage in Virginia, officially joined Keller Williams Coastal Virginia Chesapeake.
In December, one of South Jersey’s top teams left Keller Williams for eXp Realty when the 15-agent Quintin Group left the franchise.
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