Two New York City renters have filed a class action complaint against Compass, alleging that by delisting thousands of rental units from free platforms like Zillow, the brokerage firm has artificially inflated rents through what they call a ‘fake supply shock.’

According to the plaintiffs, Peter Castaneda and Haley Gelfand, Compass now controls over 80 percent of Manhattan's rental listings. This monopoly, they argue, allows the company to dictate prices for approximately 80 percent of Manhattan’s rental units.

The lawsuit claims that by removing homes from Zillow, which is owned by StreetEasy (also a competitor), Compass aims to push renters towards brokered deals where fees are higher and more profitable. The plaintiffs cite a Compass ‘playbook’ that includes hiding listings to ‘enable its own agents to double-dip’, thereby boosting revenue and stock price.

Compass’s actions have sparked an interesting battle of wills in the real estate market, with Zillow responding by implementing new standards to exclude private listings. This move was aimed at reducing the practice of hiding listings where sellers can’t find buyers on free platforms. However, Compass retaliated and even filed its own antitrust suit against Zillow for allegedly trying to monopolize listings.

In March, after a judge ruled that Compass is unlikely to succeed in proving this monopoly claim, the company withdrew its lawsuit. The outcome remains to be seen as the market watches to see if these tactics will continue to shape rental prices and availability in New York City.