Is Zillow a Public Utility? Attorneys Weigh in on Mred, Compass Suit

Bradley Weber, co-leader of Troutman Pepper Locke’s Antitrust Practice Group, was quoted in the May 28, 2026, HousingWire article, “Is Zillow a Public Utility? Attorneys Weigh in on Mred, Compass Suit.”

• Bradley Weber, the co-chair of Troutman Pepper Locke’s antitrust practice group, views the allegations made by Zillow as the “mirror image” of the claims Compass made in its antitrust lawsuit filed against Zillow last June, which it voluntarily dismissed in March 2026.
• “It is striking that the claims Zillow is now making against Compass are basically the same claims Compass was making against Zillow under Section 1 of the Sherman Act for conspiracy and Section 2 for monopolizing a relevant market,” he said.
• In the suit, Zillow claims that Compass and MRED are taking part in a horizontal group boycott, which Weber said would imply, under a per se application of the law, that the two defendants are competitors.
• “There is a theory there that Compass is competing with MRED because it has its own private listing service, but I am not sure how strong of an argument that is,” Weber said.
• …
• Weber agrees, as he feels this might be Zillow’s way of telling other MLSs that if they follow MRED’s suit, they might be opening themselves up to a costly federal lawsuit.
• “For PR reasons, I could see why Zillow would file this to sort of scare off other MLSs from entering into similar agreements with Compass,” Weber said.
• …
• If Compass and MRED win the lawsuit, Weber feels that the MLS-broker relationship model being established by the defendants would become more prevalent.
• “This would definitely threaten Zillow’s market position and it would show that you don’t have to follow Zillow’s rules, which historically, is what much of the industry has done because they have become reliant on Zillow for leads and services,” Weber said.