Two New York City renters filed a federal antitrust lawsuit this week against Compass, claiming the brokerage’s strategy of withholding listings from public sites like Zillow and StreetEasy has driven up rents in Manhattan. The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, seeks class-action certification and alleges that Compass’ behavior, combined with its market share, violates antitrust laws.
Peter Castaneda and Haley Gelfand, who rent a $5,000-a-month one-bedroom unit, filed the suit. They point to an analysis from the regulatory publication Capital Forum that estimated Compass controlled 80 percent of the Manhattan market, based on 2025 transaction data from RealTrends. That figure drew attention earlier this year after Compass closed its $1.6 billion deal to acquire Anywhere Real Estate, which brought brands like Corcoran, Sotheby’s International Realty and Coldwell Banker under its umbrella.
The complaint states that Compass “controls over 80 percent of the rental unit listings available for renters in Manhattan based on 2025 data.” But that estimate was built on for-sale market share, not rental listings. No comparable analysis of Compass’ rental market share exists, and the rental market is far more fragmented, with many listings managed directly by landlords’ leasing offices.
Related: NYC Rental Market in Disarray
The suit also argues that Compass’ practice of keeping listings off public portals has artificially reduced supply and pushed rents higher. The problem: Compass has never publicly discussed withholding rental listings. Its “Fall Marketing Playbook,” presented to New York City agents and previously reported by The Real Deal, focused specifically on for-sale listings.
Compass declined to comment on the filing.
The case lands at a moment when the brokerage is already under scrutiny elsewhere. Zillow has sued Compass in Chicago, alleging the firm colluded with Midwest Real Estate Data to withhold listings from Zillow’s platform. That case is awaiting a judge’s decision on Zillow’s request for a preliminary injunction.
Even if this particular lawsuit struggles to survive, it reflects a broader concern among critics that Compass’ size and private listing strategy could make it harder for other brokerages to compete. If buyers and renters feel they can’t see all available homes without going through Compass, the argument goes, they get pulled into the company’s ecosystem whether they want to or not.
Related: Metro Vancouver sales drop 10% as Fraser Valley affordability lags
Sen. Elizabeth Warren sent a letter to CEO Robert Reffkin and MRED CEO Rebecca Jensen requesting clarification on their partnership. She wrote that she was “particularly concerned that the non-public, exclusive nature of private listings may perpetuate housing discrimination through residential steering.” The New York Attorney General’s Office antitrust division is also looking into the company’s footprint in the city.
The brokerage’s market position has been a topic of debate since the Anywhere acquisition closed. Compass has said little publicly about how it plans to handle listings across its expanded portfolio, and it hasn’t responded to the latest filing beyond declining to comment.
For renters in Manhattan, the practical effect of this case is unclear right now. The lawsuit’s central claim doesn’t match available data, and the marketing playbook cited in the complaint doesn’t address rentals at all. But the legal pressure on Compass isn’t going away, and the company now faces questions from multiple directions about how its size shapes the housing market in the cities where it operates.
