According to REcore, in compliance with the standards approved by the Department of Justice (DOJ) in its 2008 consent decree with the National Association of Realtors (NAR), the company does not charge MLS participants who directly contribute to the network effect of the MLS.
“Instead, the REcore fee structure requires entities that use MLS data to generate revenue, without representing buyers or sellers, to pay for those usage rights. CRMLS then requires REcore to distribute profits from such use back to the listing brokers who provided the original MLS content,” a statement from REcore reads.
REcore adds that this system ensures that brokers who contribute to the MLS are fairly compensated for any monetization of those contributions.
According to REcore, these breach of contract allegations date back to CoStar’s acquisition of Homes.com. At the time, REcore said CoStar representatives “verbally committed to paying for access to the MLS listing data.”
“In these same conversations, Homes.com criticized competitors in the portal space who used IDX data feeds to monetize listings without returning any of those proceeds going back to listing brokers,” REcore claims. “Homes.com also represented that they would not become a participating broker and would not use an IDX data feed to provide listings to their website.”
Despite these assertions, REcore says Homes.com later applied for an IDX feed, claiming to qualify for the feed as a participant broker. In order to obtain this feed, CoStar and Homes.com signed REcore’s licensing agreement, which went into effect in January 2024. REcore said its fee structure was part of this agreement. According to REcore, per the agreement, licensees who monetized the MLS data, rather than using it to obtain buyer and seller clients were required to pay for the data usage rights. The company says that under the terms of this agreement, Homes.com consented to pay approximately $2 per MLS listing record displayed on their site.
“After more than a year of REcore’s efforts to negotiate a resolution, the company was left with no choice but to protect MLS data and the listing brokers who supplied it by filing a lawsuit against Homes.com and CoStar,” a statement from REcore reads.
In addition to filing the lawsuit, REcore said it is also terminating the Homes.com and HomesPro data feeds containing CRMLS listing records beginning on Nov. 1, 2025. However, the company said that if a CRMLS participant wants to have their CRMLS listing record sent to Homes.com, they can work with REcore to set up a Participant’s Data Return feed.
“The service provided will be at no cost and without restrictions on Homes.com monetization of that data,” REcore’s statement reads.
Additionally, REcore said it will delay its first round of payments to CRMLS listing brokers until 2026 due to Homes.com’s alleged breach of contract.
“Furthermore, every dollar spent by REcore and CRMLS to defend these rights is a dollar taken from the listing brokers who deserve to be compensated for their contributions,” the statement reads. “Both CRMLS and REcore are deeply disappointed by the reversal in position from Homes.com and CoStar. Despite CoStar spending millions on parties at Realtor events and over a billion dollars on the marketing of their services, they have refused to honor their financial commitment to REcore.”
CoStar did not immediately return HousingWire’s request for comment.
