Redfin Private Listing Restrictions Now on Pause Compass Compels

In a discovery dispute, Compass seeks to compel Redfin, a nonparty in its lawsuit against Zillow, to produce internal communications and documents allegedly showing coordination between Redfin and Zillow.

At the same time, a Redfin spokesperson confirmed that the company’s rules restricting private listings had not gone into effect, after being announced almost simultaneously to similar rules formulated by Zillow—now at the center of the high-profile lawsuit.

In a statement, a Redfin spokesperson said, “We haven’t implemented it due in large part to the Rocket acquisition.”

Compass requested all communications between Redfin and Zillow between January 2024 and July 20, 2025, including:

Any potential business relationship
The Rental Partnership (seemingly referring to a deal between the two companies that is simultaneously being scrutinized by regulators).
Zillow’s Listing Access Standards (rules restricting most private listings)
The topics addressed in Redfin’s April 2025 article: “Buyers Should See All the Listings, Sellers Should Control How Their Listing Appears Online”
Compass (including its Three-Phased Marketing Strategy or Compass’s public marketing strategies)
Any off-MLS or pre-MLS marketing strategies

Additionally, Compass requested any documents Redfin produced in response to any subpoena from Zillow during this litigation.

Objecting to the document request, Redfin called it “premature and unduly burdensome,” according to a court document filed Tuesday.

“An antitrust action does not come with an automatic entitlement to force non-parties to reveal their competitive thinking,” Redfin’s attorneys wrote, citing legal precedent.

The second document request includes documents, from the same timeframe, sufficient to show the market and competition for online home services, including market share or competitive landscape studies.

Besides objecting to the request because it is protected from discovery and disclosure by attorney-client privilege, and that it allegedly seeks proprietary information, Redfin claims it is an attempt by Compass to force them to act as an unpaid expert.

“Redfin objects to this attempt to force Redfin, as a nonparty, to perform the parties’ duty to analyze the relevant market as an unpaid expert,” the court filing states.