A congressional subcommittee is probing brokerage giant Compass’ private listings partnership with the Midwest Real Estate Data multiple listing service to determine if it is anticompetitive.
The House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust sent letters this week to Compass CEO Robert Reffkin and MRED CEO Rebecca Jensen requesting a briefing on their business practices.
The inquiry comes after Compass and MRED, the MLS for the Chicago area, in April announced a deal to distribute Compass Private Exclusives listings nationwide through the MRED database, which has historically operated only as a regional service.
The letters from Rep. Scott Fitzgerald (R-WI), chair of the subcommittee, say the panel is examining whether that deal might amount to anticompetitive conduct.
“This partnership, and the expansion of [Private Listing Networks] more generally, has raised concerns about the information that will be available to consumers and the effect that it could have on housing affordability,” Fitzgerald wrote in the letters, which were obtained by Realtor.com®.
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The letters say the committee also wants to determine if the Compass-MRED partnership may “incentivize brokers to push sellers into private listings.”
Fitzgerald expressed concerns that private listings networks may encourage “dual-agency” property transactions, in which the same agent represents both the buyer and the seller.
“Dual-agency creates potential conflicts of interest and restricts a buyer’s access to independent representation,” he wrote.
The letters request a response by early August for a to-be-determined hearing date. In a statement, MRED said it would cooperate with the inquiry.
“MRED has received the House Judiciary Committee’s request for a briefing,” MRED said in a statement to Realtor.com. “We look forward to responding and helping the committee understand our business practices. Whether it’s our customers or this committee, we’re always happy to help.”
Compass declined to comment. The Consumer Federation of America has been urging Congress to investigate the Compass-MRED deal. CFA and the Urban League in April published a report critical of pocket listings. Then, the group sent a letter to the Department of Justice requesting an investigation.
“It’s not good for buyers or sellers at all,” Sharon Cornelissen, director of housing for CFA, told Realtor.com. “And we are worried about the fair housing impacts on protected classes. The whole practice of pocket listings has a history in racial exclusion, too. It’s not new.”
The congressional inquiry brings fresh attention to the practice of private or “pocket” listings, where a property is marketed to an exclusive set of people, such as the clients of a specific brokerage, before it is advertised to the broader public.
In 2025, Bright MLS, a multiple listing service covering the mid-Atlantic region, found that private listings take longer to sell and offer no price benefits to the seller.
Several states have since moved to limit or restrict the practice. Washington state and Connecticut both signed restrictions this year. The New York General Assembly has passed a bill with similar restrictions, but it has not yet been sent to the governor for her signature.
Private Listing Network under scrutiny
Earlier this year, MRED announced a nationwide expansion of its Private Listing Network. That agent-to-agent database is restricted to the public and allows some properties to be marketed within the system before going public.
In April, Compass became the first brokerage to join the network, providing a nationwide inventory of its listings, including “Private Exclusives” and “Coming Soon” listings. As part of the deal, Compass said it would subsidize MRED subscriptions for 100,000 agents within its brokerage network or its subsidiaries.
“We also want to support MLSs, like MRED, that value, support, and protect their customers, who are real estate agents, from retaliation by other MLSs and portals, and ensure that agents can fulfill their fiduciary duties to their home seller and home buyer clients,” Reffkin said at the time.
Shortly thereafter, real estate portal Zillow Inc. informed MRED it would exclude some listings. In response, MRED cut Zillow off, saying the company’s actions violated its license agreements.
This temporarily took a large number of Chicago-area listings off the Zillow website. (Realtor.com recently struck an agreement with Zillow to show preview listings from brokers who participate in Zillow’s preview program, in an effort to boost market transparency.)
Zillow then sued the two companies alleging antitrust violations, a suit which is still ongoing. The complaint alleges the two companies “are colluding to hide home listings from buyers—and conspired to punish Zillow for not going along with it.”
Compass and MRED deny those claims and are fighting the lawsuit in court.
Separately, the antitrust division of the New York Attorney General’s Office is investigating Compass’ merger with rival brokerage Anywhere, as Realtor.com confirmed last month. The probe is examining whether the merger, which made Compass the world’s largest residential real estate brokerage, violates state antitrust laws.
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