Clear Cooperation Policy fades as MRED, Compass and Zillow reshape listings

"The Clear Cooperation Policy (CCP) is not technically dead. It is still a rule in NAR's rulebook, still officially binding on every member MLS. But now, the rule is being ignored at scale. Brokerages are operating around it. MLSs are quietly declining to enforce it. And, in the last two weeks of April and the first two weeks of May 2026, the structural alternative to CCP, the system that will replace it, came into focus."

"In late April, MRED, the Chicago-based MLS, announced a national expansion with its private listing network included. Compass announced it would subsidize MRED subscriptions for up to 100,000 of its agents. On May 5, Zillow and Realtor.com announced they would advertise coming soon listings alongside private listings starting this summer. The two largest consumer-facing portals had effectively validated the very behavior the CCP was written to prevent."

"On May 8, Compass terminated every direct listing feed it had with Zillow, nationwide. Within days, Realtracs in Nashville followed MRED's template. CLAW in Los Angeles followed. The pattern is now visible: regional MLSs opening their private listing networks to national subscription, with a single major brokerage paying agent enrollment costs to populate those networks. On May 12, Zillow filed a federal antitrust suit against MRED and Compass in the Northern District of Illinois, alleging conspiracy and per se group boycott."

"In 14 days, the structural map of the industry changed. CCP did not stop any of it. Industry leaders need to slow down and look carefully here, because the headline and the architecture are two different things. MRED's private listing approach, on its own merits, is not the same animal as a brokerage-controlled private network. Inside MRED, private listings are visible to all participating"

CCP remains a binding rule in NAR’s rulebook, but enforcement has largely stopped and brokerages operate around it. In late April and early May 2026, major MLS and brokerage actions brought a replacement structure into focus. MRED announced national expansion that included its private listing network, while Compass subsidized MRED subscriptions for up to 100,000 agents. Zillow and Realtor.com announced they would advertise coming soon listings alongside private listings starting that summer, effectively validating behavior CCP aimed to prevent. On May 8, Compass terminated direct listing feeds with Zillow nationwide, and other systems followed similar templates. A visible pattern emerged: regional MLSs opening private listing networks to national subscription, supported by brokerage-funded agent enrollment. On May 12, Zillow filed a federal antitrust suit against MRED and Compass alleging conspiracy and group boycott.

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