Compass takes CRMLS fight to court and promises to cover agent fines

Compass International Holdings has filed an antitrust lawsuit against California Regional Multiple Listing Service (CRMLS), alleging that rules at the nation’s second-largest MLS unlawfully restrict how homeowners and their agents can publicly market properties outside the MLS. Filed on Friday in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, the complaint claims CRMLS imposes fines of up to $2,500 on real estate agents who follow a client’s lawful instructions to publicly market a property without placing it in CRMLS. In some cases, agents can face suspension or expulsion for noncompliance with the rules, according to Compass. Compass argues those policies prevent sellers, working with their agents, from choosing a marketing strategy tailored to their needs, such as privacy-sensitive or phased exposure campaigns. The company says builders and developers of new homes are not subject to the same restrictions and contends that individual homeowners should have similar flexibility to market their homes. Competitors ‘dictating how Compass can compete’ “Every single member of CRMLS’s Board of Directors is a direct competitor of Compass and its agents, and they are dictating...