Zillow Signs Realtracs Data Deal While Chicago Feed Fight Grinds On

Zillow has signed a modernised data licensing agreement with Realtracs, the Nashville-based MLS serving more than 20,000 agents across six southeastern states, ending a stand-off over its access to Tennessee's largest listings pool.

Announced on 5 August, the licence caps how Zillow can use broker-created data in AI models and market analytics, and requires it to flag when an agent trips its listing suppression thresholds. Zillow's Listing Access Standards, the policy at the root of these disputes, were not modified.

Realtracs president and CEO Stuart White said the agreement establishes "clearly defined use rights, responsible use standards, and stronger protections for broker-created data."

Realtracs named Zillow its only non-compliant vendor on 31 May, then extended its deadline repeatedly. MRED, the Chicagoland MLS with more than 43,000 members, cut Zillow's IDX and VOW feeds instead, erasing over half the portal's active Chicago inventory within hours and handing Compass and Redfin an easy marketing line.

Zillow sued MRED and Compass under the Sherman Act, alleging a group boycott arranged after MRED agreed to subsidise membership for up to 100,000 Compass agents. Judge John Tharp restored the feeds in May but barred Zillow from enforcing the ban in zip codes MRED serves. The motions have sat under advisement since a hearing on 1 July.

MRED CEO Rebecca Jensen said she was "disgusted" that Zillow "knew that its listing access standards policy may violate the IDX display rules of some MLSs".

Realtracs is no bystander. It opened nationally in April, taking full inventories from Compass International Holdings and United Real Estate, pitched as protection against listing bans.