Judge grants Zillow’s request to reinstate MRED listing feeds 

In the legal back and forth between Zillow, Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED) and Compass, all sides are claiming a partial victory following a judge's ruling Friday afternoon. 

After MRED cut listing data feeds to the search giant on May 20, Zillow filed a motion asking an Illinois District Court for a temporary restraining order (TRO) to "immediately reinstate" the portal's access to the feeds and prevent the MLS and Compass from furthering their alleged "group boycott conspiracy" against Zillow.

Despite lengthy responses from Compass and MRED opposing the TRO request, the judge in the case informed the parties on May 22 that he would partially grant the order, according to a Zillow spokesperson. 

What the TRO covers — and what it doesn't

The judge's order — which had not yet been filed at the time of publication — partially granted and partially denied Zillow's request, according to the parties.

The big win for Zillow is the restoration of its MRED data feeds, which will bring tens of  thousands of listings back onto the home search portal. The company is also allowed to continue enforcing its listing access standards across the country, with one significant exception.

Zillow cannot apply its listing standards in ZIP codes where MRED had a listing in the past year — including a handful of ZIP codes outside Chicagoland, now that the MLS has opened access to agents nationwide. Currently, there are nine Compass listings on MRED outside of Illinois. 

MRED zeroed in on that restriction, stating, "Zillow may not ban listings within ZIP codes nationwide where MRED has had listings during the past 12 month period." In other words, the portal would have to display the MLS's listings from as far back as April 2025, even if they did not comply with Zillow's listing standards. "That is a sweeping limitation on Zillow's ability to selectively exclude lawful listings based on its own business preferences," MRED stated.

According to a Zillow spokesperson, that essentially means things will go back to how they were on April 23 — the day before MRED partnered with Compass on listings distribution — with Zillow agreeing to forego enforcement of its listing standards in MRED's coverage area. The portal will also be required to display the nine Compass listings added to MRED between April 24 and May 21.

As for the limitations on listing standards enforcement "within ZIP codes nationwide," the Zillow rep noted that just 12 ZIP codes outside of MRED's historical Midwest territory fall into that category.

A win — or loss — all around?

After the judge agreed to grant the order on Friday afternoon, Zillow published a blog post calling the ruling a "win" and sent an additional statement applauding the decision as "an important first step for the Chicago home buyers, sellers and agents."

"In the middle of a housing affordability crisis, powerful industry players colluded to hide listings, suppress competition and steer consumers toward a single dominant brokerage," the statement continued. "The court immediately recognized what was at stake, not just for Zillow, but for every person trying to find or sell a home across Illinois and beyond. We will continue to fight to ensure this anti-consumer conduct is not allowed to take root permanently."

Compass, however, framed the decision as a loss for the search portal. A spokesperson for the brokerage said Compass was "pleased that the judge said Zillow can no longer ban MRED listings and we are pleased that the judge denied the TRO against Compass. As Zillow's own lawyer noted in court, the judge's decision is a huge loss for Zillow."

"Agents and consumers should be asking themselves why Zillow is fighting so hard to ban listings," the Compass spokesperson added, suggesting that Zillow wants "to control how people can market homes. We have a problem with that and so does the court."

From MRED's perspective, the ruling means that "Zillow cannot selectively ban listings that were included in MRED's feed as of May 21," according to a spokesperson, and "the central issue remains unchanged: Zillow wants the benefit of receiving MLS listing data while reserving the right to discriminate against certain lawful listings, sellers, and brokers whose marketing strategies it disfavors."

"The court's ruling makes clear that Zillow cannot ignore their license obligations and MRED's reasonable rules that benefit all participants in our cooperative marketplace and undermine the value of the MLS," MRED added. 

How we got here

In April 2025, Zillow announced new listing access standards prohibiting listings that had previously been selectively marketed, such as those first listed as "exclusives" via Compass' 3-phased marketing strategy — a move that led Compass to sue Zillow two months later. Compass later dropped its lawsuit.

Last fall, Compass International Holdings Chairman and CEO Robert Reffkin reached out to a number of MLSs in Compass-heavy markets asking them "to terminate Zillow's listing feeds," according to a court filing. MRED President and CEO Rebecca Jensen appeared to agree with Compass' stance, threatening to suspend Zillow's feed, leading the search giant to delay enforcement of its listing standards in the region. 

But after MRED opened access to agents nationwide in late April — with Compass as its first brokerage partner — the playing field changed. Jensen emailed Zillow in May warning that MRED would revoke the portal's feed access "if Zillow did not display certain Compass listings nationwide." 

Zillow declined to comply, but attempted to prevent the feed suspension through a preliminary injunction on May 18. The portal also reached out to Chicago-area agents and brokers with instructions for setting up a direct listing feed with Zillow. 

Those efforts didn't stop MRED from following through on its threat, cutting Zillow's access on May 20. In announcing its decision, MRED said Zillow had violated its licensing agreement, and the MLS was simply enforcing its rules, framing Zillow's lack of compliance as an act of defiance by a company that demanded "the right" to exclude listings "it disfavors."

"Zillow has effectively decided not to display 99.98% of MRED's listings on its platforms because it, in its own judgment, disagrees with the lawful marketing strategy associated with the remaining 0.02% of listings," MRED wrote in a news release.