EXCLUSIVE: Sen. Warren Says Compass Private Listings Partnership With Chicago MLS ‘Increases Risks of Civil Rights Violations’ in Scathing Letter to CEOs

A top Senate Democrat has expressed concerns that brokerage giant Compass Inc.’s private listings network could create a "two-tiered housing market" that "increases risks of civil rights violations" in a letter to the company’s CEO, Realtor.com® can exclusively reveal.Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, on Thursday sent a letter to Compass CEO Robert Reffkin and Rebecca Jensen, CEO of Midwest Real Estate Data, requesting information about their recent partnership to create a national database of private listings."Your partnership threatens to create a two-tiered housing market where insiders pay for exclusive access to housing inventory and market data, while everyone else is shut out," Warren wrote in the letter, which was obtained by Realtor.com. "I am concerned that this move will increase industry consolidation and harm consumers by driving up housing costs and worsening inequalities in the housing market."In April, Compass and MRED, the multiple listing service for the Chicago area, announced a deal to distribute Compass Private Exclusives listings nationwide through the MRED database, which has historical...