Two New York City renters have filed a class action lawsuit claiming that brokerage giant Compass has been hoarding rental listings like a dragon hoards gold, creating a fake supply shock that's artificially inflating rents. Because nothing says 'free market' like strategically removing options from the market.
Plaintiffs Peter Castaneda and Haley Gelfand allege that Compass, through a decade-plus of acquisitions, now controls a staggering 'over 80 percent of the rental unit listings available for renters in Manhattan based on 2025 data.' With that kind of monopoly, Compass can 'literally dictate pricing' for most of Manhattan's rentals, which is great if you're a landlord, less great if you're, you know, a person who needs a place to live.
The alleged scheme? Compass, which has been boycotting free listing platforms like Zillow, started delisting thousands of homes from the platform earlier this year. The goal, according to the complaint, was to force renters to use Compass's own brokers, who charge fees often tied to rent prices. It's a 'playbook' that involves 'hiding listings from the public' to enable agents to 'double-dip to increase revenue per transaction, boost its stock price, and effectively ignore the consumer.' In other words, it's a great way to make money, if you're Compass.
Zillow, for its part, responded by excluding these private listings from its sites, which is like saying, 'If you're not going to play nice, you can't play at all.' This prompted Compass to file an antitrust suit against Zillow, claiming Zillow was the monopolist. A judge disagreed, noting that Zillow can't have a monopoly if people can research across platforms, and Compass voluntarily dismissed the suit in March.
Now, local and federal authorities are sniffing around. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Ma.) has launched a probe, worried that Compass might 'create a two-tiered housing market where insiders pay for exclusive access to housing inventory and market data, while everyone else is shut out.' Because nothing says 'housing crisis' like adding a VIP section for the wealthy.
Blake Hunter Yagman, an attorney for the renters, told Ars that 'when a titan of an industry decides to choke off supply of an essential good or service, like housing, the implications can be swiftly vast and severe.' Indeed, New Yorkers already face an affordability crisis, and high rents are 'the largest bill that most of us have to pay.' Compass declined to comment, which is probably for the best.
Zillow's spokesperson, however, was more forthcoming: 'When listings are deliberately hidden from public platforms, real consumers pay the price. This summer, New Yorkers have seen exactly that play out, with one dominant brokerage deciding which homes people get to see and further squeezing the NYC market during a housing crisis.'
The lawsuit alleges that Compass's actions have already increased rents. Castaneda signed a lease in August for a one-bedroom in downtown Manhattan at $5,270 per month, which 'far exceeds' the $4,390 average/median asking rent in that area just a month earlier. Gelfand watched prices rise on StreetEasy from July to August before she also agreed to pay $5,270 for a similar unit. Coincidence? The plaintiffs think not.
They point to data showing that available rental units across New York have dropped 40 percent in the past year, with corresponding rent increases of 3 percent in June, doubling to 6 percent in July. That's what economists call a 'supply shock,' and the plaintiffs argue Compass caused it intentionally.
The renters seek to represent 'all New York City renters who have leased non-rent stabilized, multifamily residential real estate units from August 1, 2026 through the present.' They want Compass to disgorge unjust enrichment, pay damages, and stop hiding listings from platforms like Zillow. They also note that renters already spend more than 30 percent of their income on rent - a threshold economists classify as unaffordable - and that this scheme hurts other brokers and even drives Zillow's profitability 'into the ground.' Plus, 45 percent of real estate agents are struggling to pay their own rents, which is a special kind of irony.
So, in summary: Compass allegedly created a fake housing shortage to boost its own bottom line, and in doing so, made New York City even more unaffordable than it already was. But hey, at least the stock price might go up.