Today, Ed Zorn, CRMLS VP and General Counsel, answered Compass’ Sept. 8, 2026, demand letter with a flat refusal, saying:
“CRMLS will not enter into any agreement with Compass to create rules that can harm consumers and are antithetical to rules supporting competition through cooperation.”
In that letter, Compass demanded that CRMLS agree not to enforce its rules requiring exclusive listings to be submitted to the MLS for cooperation, and it raised antitrust claims against those rules that CRMLS now says it’s ready to fight in court.
Zorn’s response went to Compass’ outside counsel, Nathan P. Eimer of Eimer Stahl LLP. We’re covering the highlights here.
What CRMLS Says Its Rules Allow
The Compass letter claims CRMLS rules keep sellers from marketing their homes to the public. Zorn says CRMLS Rule 7.9 lets a seller market and advertise a home to the public without submitting it to the MLS for cooperation.
According to Zorn, the rule applies when an agent uses competitors’ MLS data to price a home and signs the seller to an exclusive listing agreement. In that case, the listing goes into the MLS so the brokers who shared their data can see it. Open and non-exclusive listings don’t have to be submitted at all.
Zorn pointed to Compass’ settlement with Northwest MLS (NWMLS), which Compass agreed to eight days before it sent its letter to CRMLS.
He says the NWMLS rules Compass accepted are stricter than the CRMLS rules:
- Compass agreed to submit all for-sale properties for cooperation
- NWMLS has no one business day window before submission
- NWMLS has nothing like CRMLS Rule 7.9.1, the No Cooperation Listing option
Zorn’s Account of CRMLS Talks With Reffkin
Zorn says CRMLS met face to face with Compass CEO Robert Reffkin and Compass General Counsel Ethan Glass to try to work things out.
According to Zorn, Reffkin asked for Compass Coming Soon listings to be kept off every portal and IDX site except Redfin.com, and he admitted he could sell access to those listings to Redfin/Rocket. CRMLS proposed a change to its Coming Soon status, and Zorn says Reffkin and Glass praised it and said it resolved their objections.
Zorn says the Sept. 8 letter made him doubt what Compass leadership told CRMLS in those meetings.
“But receipt of your letter only a couple of months later clearly indicates that none of the representations from Compass leadership were genuine or truthful.”
The letter makes two more claims about Reffkin trying to get agents to leave CRMLS:
- CRMLS received “direct reports” that Reffkin offered attendees at Century 21 and Coldwell Banker franchisee meetings $1,000 each to leave CRMLS for SDMLS
- Reffkin told more than 400 attendees at the T3 Sixty Leadership Conference that CRMLS would lose over 10,000 subscribers by the end of 2026
Counterclaims and a New Legal Defense Fund
If Compass sues, Zorn says CRMLS will file its own claims, including violations of California’s Cartwright Act and Unfair Competition Law and breach of fiduciary duty.
CRMLS also sent Compass a litigation hold notice, which requires Compass to keep records that could be used as evidence. Those records include anything on Compass’ three-phase marketing program and any payments to agents to leave CRMLS.
CRMLS plans to gather stories from agents and consumers who say hidden listings hurt them. Zorn says he’s talked with agents whose buyers had to drop them to tour hidden Compass homes.
CRMLS will also start the MLS Cooperative Legal Defense Fund to help other MLSs “being bullied by Compass into modifying their rules out of fear of the cost of defending litigation.” Zorn has sent funding requests to the C.A.R. Legal Action Fund and the NAR Legal Action Program.
Zorn told Compass what to expect if it takes CRMLS to court.
“Let there be no confusion: should Compass assert these frivolous claims against CRMLS, they will be met with an aggressive defense and meaningful counterclaims. The choice of how this process will proceed is now up to the leadership of Compass.”
Where the Dispute Goes From Here
Zorn wrote, “It is my sincere hope that cooler heads will prevail, and that there will be no need for litigation between Compass and CRMLS.”
You can find the full letter on the CRMLS website, with every claim and all 18 categories of records CRMLS wants Compass to keep.
Stay tuned for more as this story develops.
