More multiple listing services (MLSs) across the country are quietly repealing the National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) optional no-commingling rule.
For Zillow, a reluctant follower of the rule in MLSs that adopted the policy, it has been able to abandon its two-tab listing display in more metro areas.
While Zillow did not provide an exact number of MLSs that have recently dropped the policy, Matt Hendricks, the company’s vice president of industry affairs, wrote in an email that the company “applauds the many MLSs that have revoked the no-commingling restriction.”
“Zillow has long advocated against the no-commingling rule. Consumers want and expect a single-search experience, where all available homes for sale can be viewed seamlessly,” Hendricks wrote. “We’re excited about enhancing the search experience to reflect this progress as we expand single search on a by-market basis.”
Vocal critic
Zillow was forced to create the two-tab listing display it utilizes in some markets to comply with the no-commingling rule. The rule states that MLS listings and non-MLS listings may not be displayed together in MLSs that have adopted the policy in order for the listing giant to obtain access to the MLS’s internet data exchange (IDX) feed.
The company began using an IDX feed to power its listing portal in 2021. Zillow’s adoption of this two-tab design in no-commingling markets was the source of an antitrust lawsuit from now-defunct discount brokerage REX Real Estate, as the two-tab design prevented REX listings from being viewed alongside MLS listings.
Despite its creation of the two-tab design and compliance with the policy, Zillow has been a vocal critic of the no-commingling policy and has lobbied NAR to get rid of the optional rule. Since 2021, Zillow has submitted four requests to NAR asking the trade group to eliminate the rule.
“Fundamentally, it comes down to the fact that we believe in transparency in real estate,” Errol Samuelson, Zillow’s chief industry development officer, told HousingWire last fall.
“We think that consumers should have access to all of their housing options in one place and that they should be able to see their options side by side.”
In a 2023 consumer survey, Zillow found that 91% of buyers believe they should be able to see all of their housing options for free and without barriers in a single spot. Samuelson said he believes good agents and brokers feel the same way.
“If you are working with a buyer, you want to make sure that they are aware of all of their options,” Samuelson said. “If the buyer comes to you with a listing that suits them and asks why you didn’t show it to them, it can actually undermine the trust and your relationship.”
Outdated rule
Stellar MLS in Florida is one organization that recently abandoned the policy. According to CEO Merri Jo Cowen, the MLS made the decision to allow commingling on its site in October 2024 after having had the optional rule in place for “many years.”
“We had been considering a change for a while as broker and agent websites, along with other listing sources have matured over the evolution of the Internet and we found the rule to be outdated,” Cowen wrote in an email.
“Our goal is always to serve our brokers and allowing them the option of adding other property listing sources to their websites provides more flexibility in display choices on their respective sites. Our only requirement for mingling IDX-MLS Sourced properties with properties from other sources is that the other source be clearly identified.”
Stellar MLS’s removal of the policy follows that of Bright MLS, which also made the decision to repeal the rule in 2024. Other MLSs, including the nation’s largest — the California Regional MLS (CRMLS) — have never had the policy in place.
“It has never been a touch point for our brokerage community,” Art Carter, the CEO of CRMLS, told HousingWire last fall. “I’ve never had someone call me up and ask why we don’t have it. It is just something that our board of directors, for whatever reason, when the policy was initially presented, they decided not to implement it.”
During the summer of 2024, several sources confirmed to HousingWire that the Department of Justice, which became involved in REX’s appeal of its suit, had served civil investigative demands to multiple MLSs that had the no-commingling rule in place.
