CMLS urges antitrust regulators to back MLS collaboration

The Council of Multiple Listing Services (CMLS) has asked federal antitrust regulators to explicitly recognize multiple listing services (MLSs) as pro-competitive collaborations as the government updates guidance on how competitors can work together.

In a May 26 comment letter to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ)’s Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), CMLS argued that MLSs expand access to accurate housing data, reduce search and transaction costs, and support an open and competitive real estate marketplace.

The agencies requested public input on potential guidance for “collaborations among competitors” as they continue to scrutinize real estate commission practices, listing policies and data access under federal antitrust law. Industry trade groups, MLSs and brokerages have increasingly turned to formal comment processes to influence how regulators view long-standing industry structures.

“MLSs are one of the most important examples of how collaboration can strengthen competition and benefit consumers,” Nicole Jensen, chair of CMLS and CEO of realMLS, said in the announcement. “CMLS is proud to lead this effort on behalf of the MLS industry and ensure policymakers understand the essential role MLSs play in creating an open, transparent, and efficient housing market.”

CMLS represents more than 230 MLSs and 80 related industry businesses. Its member MLSs serve more than 1.7 million subscribers across North America, including brokerages, real estate agents and appraisers, as well as the consumers they support.

The letter emphasized that MLSs are built around broad, even-handed access to factual property data. By collecting, verifying and distributing listing information, CMLS said its members provide reliable information on homes for sale and recent sales to consumers, brokers, appraisers, lenders and technology providers.

CMLS highlighted several specific benefits it says MLSs provide to the housing market:

• Market transparency: Timely, reliable property information that helps buyers and sellers make informed decisions.
• Lower search and transaction costs: Consolidated listing information in one trusted source, enabling buyers to find homes more efficiently and helping sellers reach a wider audience.
• Support for smaller firms: Equal access to marketplace information and exposure for small and independent brokerages alongside larger firms.
• Technology and innovation: MLS data underpins portals, valuation tools, lending and appraisal workflows, and other technology that helps consumers navigate the housing market.
• Independent decision-making: MLSs do not set prices, commissions or service models, but instead provide factual information that supports independent choices by buyers, sellers and real estate professionals.

The organization also asked regulators to recognize that certain MLS rules are needed to preserve these benefits. Requirements for accurate, complete and timely data, along with standards that prevent free-riding, are “essential to making the MLS system work,” CMLS said in the announcement.

Antitrust treatment of MLSs is a central concern for brokers, MLS executives and proptech firms as the industry adapts to litigation settlements, potential commission decoupling and evolving data-sharing models. Federal guidance that affirms MLSs as legitimate, procompetitive collaborations could provide more certainty around rulemaking, data access and how far MLSs can go in standardizing practices without inviting additional scrutiny.

Conversely, if DOJ or FTC guidance narrows the scope of permissible cooperation among competitors, MLSs could face pressure to revise participation rules, data policies or enforcement practices in ways that affect listing exposure, compensation fields and downstream technology products.

CMLS framed its advocacy as part of a broader effort to position MLSs as “critical infrastructure” for the housing market, and to ensure that policymakers understand how MLSs interact with consumers, competition and technology.

“MLSs are critical infrastructure for the housing market,” Jensen said. “CMLS will continue working to ensure the value of MLS is understood, protected, and advanced.”

The organization said this work is supported in part through its Champions of MLS program, which funds national-level advocacy and supports MLSs engaged in local and state policy efforts.

This article was generated using HousingWire Automation and reviewed by a HousingWire editor before publication.