CHICAGO — Zillow filed an antitrust lawsuit in May 2025 against Midwest Real Estate Data LLC (MRED) and Compass after abruptly losing access to thousands of Chicago-area home listings. A federal judge responded by issuing a temporary restraining order requiring the immediate restoration of those listings to Zillow’s platform.

The number of available home listings on Zillow in the Chicago area dropped from nearly 5,000 to about 1,700 following the dispute. At the same time, competing sites Redfin and Realtor.com hosted between 5,000 and 8,000 Chicago-area listings, according to available data.

Zillow alleged that MRED, Chicago’s multiple listing service provider, conspired with Compass, the city’s dominant brokerage, to hide homes in a Private Listing Network (PLN) and block transparency for consumers. The lawsuit claimed Compass uses hidden listings to lure buyers with exclusive inventory and engineer dual-agent transactions to maximize profit.

In response, MRED called Zillow’s antitrust claims “meritless” and moved to force the case into arbitration, framing the conflict as a contract dispute. MRED stated Zillow lost access to 43,000 listings because it blocked nine previously hidden listings, violating its contractual obligations. “In a striking lesson in irony, Zillow has chosen not to display 43,000 MRED listings because it demands the right, and has filed a federal antitrust lawsuit to secure that right—to exclude nine listings it disfavors.”

Compass defended the use of private listings, stating the legal fight centers on whether homeowners can choose how to market their homes or must comply with a platform’s uniform policy. “Buyers in Chicago should not lose access to listings because a platform disagrees with a homeowner’s marketing choice.” The brokerage also commended MRED for enforcing policies it says protect consumer choice and agents’ fiduciary duties.

Zillow countered that its Zillow Preview product differs from PLNs because it is “available for any buyer to see and aligned with our transparency standards.” It asserted that PLNs are “only available to buyers working with a specific brokerage or agent,” and that their purpose is “to hide the house to force more buyers into working with your brokerage.” Zillow also argued the rules it allegedly violated “didn’t exist when Zillow signed its agreement” with MRED.

Following the judge’s order, the nine disputed listings were reinstated, and Zillow said, “Thousands of homes temporarily hidden from the 235 million average monthly unique users who search for homes on Zillow are now visible again. And sellers who had no say in this decision no longer have to bear the cost.” MRED acknowledged the order but noted the “central issue remains unchanged.”