- In 2017, luxury real estate celebrity broker Mauricio Umansky, founder of The Agency, launched Pocket Listing Service (PLS.com)—a private marketplace designed to offer off-MLS, discreet listings across the U.S.
- By 2019, the platform boasted nearly 20,000 licensed real estate professionals and tapped into growing demand for privacy, flexibility, and exclusivity in high-end markets.
- In late 2019, NAR enacted its Clear Cooperation Policy (CCP), mandating agents to list any publicly marketed property on an MLS within one business day—a direct barrier to pocket listing platforms like PLS.com.
- According to Umansky, NAR, and numerous regional MLSs (e.g., CRMLS, Bright MLS, Midwest Real Estate Data) allegedly coordinated behind the scenes—authoring white papers, orchestrating policy rollouts, and enforcing CCP to quash competition.
- May 2020: PLS.com filed an antitrust lawsuit in federal court, accusing NAR and affiliate MLSs of conspiring to “eliminate competition,” shut down innovation, and deprive consumers and agents of choice.
- 2021–2023: Similar lawsuits—like the Top Agent Network case—were dismissed and revived repeatedly, signaling judicial caution and ongoing legal scrutiny.
- January 2024: Umansky withdrew/paused the lawsuit during litigation but continued publicly challenging CCP and pledged to refile.
- March 2025: On March 25, 2025, NAR announced a new MLS policy. According to NAR:
A consumer will have the option to market their home as a “delayed marketing exempt listing.” This means a seller can instruct their listing agent to delay the marketing of their listing by other agents outside the listing firm through IDX or syndication for a period of time.During the delayed marketing period, the home seller and the listing agent can market the listing in a manner consistent with the seller’s needs and interests. At the same time, the delayed marketing exempt listing will still be available to other MLS Participants through the MLS platform so they can inform their consumers about the property. - July 1, 2025: The pause on Umansky litigation expired at 12 am on July 1, 2025. The suit was officially refiled at 12.30 am on July 1, 2025 in federal court—no longer listing Umansky personally, but under PLS.com, seeking treble damages and asserting that the CCP was deliberately weaponized to kill off-pocket listing competition.
- Allegations: PLS.com claims CCP is a form of “collusive and anticompetitive conduct” benefiting big brokerages at the expense of smaller innovators, restricting consumer options, and stifling privacy-oriented marketing strategies.
- Market implications: If successful, the case could reshape how listings are marketed—affirming alternatives to public MLS—while potentially imposing enormous damages on NAR and its MLS affiliates.
- Regulatory backdrop: The Department of Justice has reopened its own CCP investigation.
- Compass sues Zillow: Meanwhile, large brokerages like Compass are pursuing separate antitrust actions over pocket listing- Compass calls it “Private Exclusives” (e.g., against Zillow, on June 23, 2025), signaling a broader industry upheaval. Zillow has a database of 160 million homes and about 227 million unique visitors per month. In April 2025, Zillow announced that any property not available for listing in Zillow within 24 hours would be permanently banned from its site. Zillow claims that hiding listings limits consumer choice.
- Key legal questions:
- Collusion or competition? —Did NAR coordinate with MLSs to suppress innovation, or was CCP simply an MLS efficiency rule?
- Consumer impact—Did CCP harm buyers and sellers by limiting choice and inflating prices?
- Damages—Will treble damages be awarded under the Sherman Act, and how severely could NAR-affiliated MLS services suffer?
- Precedent—If PLS.com succeeds, will new pocket-listing platforms emerge—and could NAR face tighter antitrust oversight?
