A legal dispute between California Regional MLS (CRMLS) and the brokerage Compass has brought off-market listings back into the spotlight for agents and sellers in Los Angeles, California. Both sides are standing firm, but one local team lead believes the industry needs a compromise more than a courtroom win.
Courtney Poulos, Founder, SERHANT. CA, Team Lead ACME | SERHANT., has followed the off-market debate for years. She sees valid points on both sides and believes there is a path that could work for sellers, agents, and the MLS.
What the Dispute Is About
CRMLS filed suit against Compass in federal court on October 5, asking a judge to declare that its listing cooperation rules do not violate federal or California antitrust law. The filing came one day before Compass’s October 6 deadline for MLSs to stop fining agents for publicly marketing office-exclusive listings.
Under CRMLS rules, brokers must submit certain residential listings to the MLS within one business day of marketing them publicly, though a broker can keep a listing inside one brokerage without submitting it, as long as the property is not publicly marketed. Compass has framed the issue as one of seller choice, while CRMLS says Compass wants to market some listings to select audiences and keep them off the MLS while still having access to other brokers’ listings and MLS data.
Where She Agrees With Compass
As an agent who follows MLS rules, Poulos agrees with Compass on one key point: she doesn’t believe the MLS should act as the police force for how agents market their listings. She has long objected to limits on personal branding in public remarks, and to the way MLSs license the listing content agents create without, in her view, giving much back to them.
She also believes MLSs shouldn’t fine agents for marketing listings off-market. If off-market listings are not allowed in a given state, she believes enforcement should come from the state, not the MLS.
Where She Believes the Problem Started
At the same time, Poulos believes the current situation grew out of how Clear Cooperation was written. The policy’s office-exclusive exception lets a listing be shared within one brokerage, and she says NAR confirmed to her directly that this means everyone working under a single broker.
In her view, that rule affects firms very differently. A brokerage with one broker for an entire state can share an office exclusive with a very large number of agents. When Poulos was the broker for about 35 agents, the same exception reached only her own team. She believes the exception made it possible for very large firms to use off-market listings at a much greater scale, and she has raised this concern at conferences and on panels for years.
Now that the issue is front and center, she believes the industry can’t keep pretending off-market listings don’t exist while fining smaller agents who try to follow the rules. “It’s an industry-created problem, and I think the industry has to solve it,” she said.
A Middle Ground That Puts Sellers First
Her proposed compromise starts with the MLS accepting that off-market listings are part of today’s market. Agents could share those listings with every other agent through the MLS’s agent-facing portal, without the listings being sent to consumer websites.
Sellers who want privacy would keep it, while still reaching every agent who might be working with a buyer. Poulos believes this could also protect brokerages, since they could show that they followed the seller’s instructions and marketed the home to as many buyers as possible.
She is skeptical of the dueling reports on whether off-market homes sell for more or less than homes on the open market, since there is no on-market sale to compare them against. To her, that uncertainty is one more reason to focus on a solution built around exposure and fairness rather than marketing claims.
“If it really is about the seller, there should be no reason why the seller wouldn’t want exposure, at least to other agents who have buyers,” she said. Readers can learn more about Courtney Poulos and her work.
About ACME | SERHANT.
ACME was founded in 2011 as a boutique brokerage in Los Angeles specializing in residential real estate, luxury properties, and renovation-resale strategy, and as of April 2026 is now ACME | SERHANT., under the umbrella of the national firm led by celebrity real estate agent Ryan Serhant.
Disclaimer: This article is based on information provided by the expert source cited above. It is intended for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, financial, or real estate advice. Readers should conduct their own research and consult qualified professionals before making any real estate or financial decisions.
