Redfin has put its private listings ban on an indefinite hold. Still, Compass wants documents related to the real estate search portal’s previously announced ban.
Redfin has put its ban on privately marketed listings on an indefinite hold, Inman has learned, but that hasn’t stopped Compass from pulling the portal into its legal fight with Zillow.
In a letter filed on Friday in its lawsuit challenging Zillow’s ban on privately marketed listings, Compass asked a judge to force Redfin to provide documents it says are related to Redfin’s own private listings ban.[1]
Redfin’s ban on privately marketed listings was set to kick in last month but is now on hold for the foreseeable future, the company confirmed to Inman, and the new Compass letter may provide some insights into why.
Compass didn’t name Redfin as a defendant in its lawsuit against Zillow Group, which enacted and enforced a policy that permanently bans real estate listings that are publicly marketed for more than a day without being entered into a multiple listing service and Zillow.[2]
But it has deposed Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman and issued two subpoenas for information from the company.
Zillow’s and Redfin’s policies took aim at Compass’ quest to build and grow a broad network of listings that are only available through Compass.
Friday’s letter put a spotlight on how Redfin isn’t the star of the show, but is tied up in the quagmire.
Redfin private listing ban on hold
Zillow announced its ban on privately marketed listings in early April. Days later, Redfin said it would follow suit.[3]
“Because we believe that all buyers should be able to see all listings, Redfin.com will not publish any listings that have been publicly marketed before being shared with all real estate websites via the MLS,” Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman said in a brief statement announcing the policy.
A spokeswoman for the company told Inman on June 30, one week after Compass sued Zillow, that the policy would be enforced in September.
“Office exclusives do comply with our policy, as long as they are only marketed within the listing brokerage,” a Redfin spokeswoman said. “If they are advertised somewhere publicly (i.e. on the listing brokerage’s website, social media, or in emails) or behind a gated call to action (i.e. ‘sign up to unlock private listings in your area’), they will not be eligible for display on Redfin.”
But the policy never actually kicked in. Redfin representatives now say the private listings ban has been put on an indefinite hold and pointed to the company’s sale to Rocket Companies as the reason.
“We have not implemented it in large part due to the Rocket acquisition,” Redfin spokeswoman Alina Ptaszynski told Inman earlier this month. “We don’t have anything more to add right now.”
Rocket Companies closed on its acquisition of Redfin the same day Redfin told Inman the listings ban was moving forward, a purchase that was first announced in March.[4][5]
Compass leans into Redfin
Compass asked a judge in late June to block Zillow[6] from enforcing its policy.
In that filing, Compass said its CEO, Robert Reffkin, and Kelman spoke just hours after Zillow announced its new policy.
Kelman told Reffkin “that Redfin had agreed to adopt virtually the same policy as the Zillow Ban,” Compass said. “During that call, Redfin’s CEO acknowledged that the Zillow Ban would harm Compass, but pushed Compass to negotiate with Zillow, implying that Zillow and Redfin could find a way to negate that harm if Compass did not fight the new rules. Compass refused.”
In the newest letter, Compass said that Kelman was deposed earlier this month. The brokerage said it issued two subpoenas to Redfin for documents related to the private listings ban and a separate partnership for Redfin to stop advertising multifamily listings in exchange for $100 million from Zillow.
Many documents in Compass’ lawsuit against Zillow, including the Friday letter, include pages where information is redacted.
Compass is asking the court to force Redfin to turn over draft versions of Kelman’s blog post announcing his company’s private listings policy.
“The draft blog posts are highly relevant to Compass’s claims and to demonstrate the merits of its Section 1 claim at the preliminary injunction hearing,” Compass attorneys wrote. “The fact that Redfin’s CEO drafted a blog post regarding the Zillow Ban before Zillow had publicly announced its policy is significant.”
References
- ^ in its lawsuit (www.inman.com)
- ^ enacted and enforced (www.inman.com)
- ^ said it would follow suit (www.inman.com)
- ^ Rocket Companies closed (www.inman.com)
- ^ announced in March (www.inman.com)
- ^ to block Zillow (www.inman.com)
- ^ Email Taylor Anderson (www.inman.com)