Mauricio Umansky’s private listing platform, ThePLS.com, is suing the National Association of Realtors in a federal antitrust case that accuses NAR of writing its Clear Cooperation Policy to destroy competition from pocket-listing networks. The suit was first filed in May 2020, paused under a tolling agreement, and refiled at 12:30 a.m. on July 1, 2025, the moment the litigation hold expired.1The New York Times. Mauricio Umansky NAR Lawsuit Listings It is now in discovery in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
What the Lawsuit Claims
The complaint is an antitrust case built around one NAR rule: the Clear Cooperation Policy, adopted in late 2019. The CCP requires that once an agent publicly markets a home, the listing must be submitted to the local NAR-affiliated Multiple Listing Service within one business day.2National Association of Realtors. MLS Clear Cooperation Policy “Public marketing” is defined broadly, covering yard signs, flyers, public-facing websites, email blasts, and multi-brokerage listing-sharing networks. A narrow “office exclusive” exception allows a listing to stay inside a single brokerage, but only if no public marketing occurs at all.
ThePLS.com alleges that NAR and its affiliated MLSs coordinated to adopt the CCP as a group boycott against private listing platforms. According to the complaint, NAR-affiliated MLSs “jointly authored white papers” and “met behind closed doors” to craft the rule, and the policy “was never about cooperation — it was about control.”3HousingWire. Mauricio Umansky’s PLS.com Revives Antitrust Lawsuit Against NAR The suit says the growing demand for pocket listings had become “a competitive threat to the viability of the NAR-affiliated MLS system,” and the CCP was written to eliminate that threat.4Inman. NAR Pulls ARA Into Legal Battle With Umansky’s ThePLS.com
The plaintiffs seek treble damages under federal antitrust law.5Real Estate News. PLS, Umansky Ready for a Rematch With NAR in Refiled Lawsuit
Umansky, ThePLS.com, and Why the Policy Hurt
Mauricio Umansky is the founder and CEO of The Agency, a Beverly Hills–based luxury brokerage.6The Agency. About Us In August 2017, he and co-founders Christopher Dyson, James Harris, and David Parnes launched ThePLS.com, a membership platform where licensed agents could share and search pocket listings — properties marketed off the MLS.7The Agency Blog. ThePLS.com Launches First Private National Off-Market Listing Platform Access was limited to agents with valid real estate licenses. The platform let agents test price points without accruing days on market and gather feedback before deciding whether to file with the MLS. By 2019, it had close to 20,000 members.3HousingWire. Mauricio Umansky’s PLS.com Revives Antitrust Lawsuit Against NAR
Then the CCP arrived. Under the new rule, an agent who listed a home on PLS could not also engage in any form of public marketing without triggering the one-business-day MLS submission requirement. The complaint argues that this mechanic prevented ThePLS.com from attracting the critical mass of listings it needed to compete, and made the business model unworkable.5Real Estate News. PLS, Umansky Ready for a Rematch With NAR in Refiled Lawsuit Some reporting names Umansky as a plaintiff alongside ThePLS.com; other coverage identifies only ThePLS.com LLC.
Filing Timeline
ThePLS.com first sued NAR in May 2020 as case 2:20-cv-04790 in the Central District of California.8CourtListener. The PLS.com LLC v. The National Association of Realtors, 2:20-cv-04790 The case was not dismissed on the merits. The parties agreed to pause the litigation under a tolling agreement while NAR dealt with the Sitzer/Burnett commission-fixing lawsuit, which ended in a $418 million settlement.1The New York Times. Mauricio Umansky NAR Lawsuit Listings The original case was formally terminated in January 2024.
The tolling agreement expired at midnight on July 1, 2025. The new complaint was filed thirty minutes later as case 2:25-cv-05971, before Judge John W. Holcomb and Magistrate Judge Charles F. Eick.9CourtListener. The PLS.com LLC v. The National Association of Realtors, 2:25-cv-05971 Christopher Renner of the Dhillon Law Group represents the plaintiffs.10Reuters. Realtor Association Hit With New Antitrust Lawsuit Over Pocket Listings NAR later said it had been “in discussions to extend this agreement until PLS ceased to engage,” which suggests the refiling caught the association off guard.3HousingWire. Mauricio Umansky’s PLS.com Revives Antitrust Lawsuit Against NAR
How NAR Is Responding
NAR has denied the antitrust claims. In its September 2025 answer to the amended complaint, the association asserted that the plaintiffs suffered no “antitrust injury” and that its policies are “lawful, justified, procompetitive, pro-consumer” and “carried out in NAR’s legitimate business interests.”4Inman. NAR Pulls ARA Into Legal Battle With Umansky’s ThePLS.com A NAR spokesperson has said the CCP “promotes transparency and competition in the real estate marketplace while still providing home sellers and their agents the option to list their property as an office exclusive.”3HousingWire. Mauricio Umansky’s PLS.com Revives Antitrust Lawsuit Against NAR
NAR also points to a policy change adopted in March 2025. Under a companion rule called “Multiple Listing Options for Sellers,” local MLSs can now set a “delayed marketing” window: a seller files the listing with the MLS but temporarily keeps it off IDX feeds and syndication sites like Zillow and Realtor.com. Other MLS participants can still see the listing during that period.11National Association of Realtors. NAR Introduces New Flexibility for Sellers While Retaining Clear Cooperation Policy The one-business-day submission requirement itself is unchanged.12National Association of Realtors. NAR Introduces New MLS Policy to Expand Choice for Consumers The amended PLS complaint argues that the tweak does not cure the anticompetitive harm because the core mandate remains in place.4Inman. NAR Pulls ARA Into Legal Battle With Umansky’s ThePLS.com
Where the Case Stands
NAR filed its answer with a jury demand on August 29, 2025. A stipulated protective order for discovery materials was entered in September 2025, and the court referred the matter to private mediation in October 2025. The most recent docket entry available is from January 2026.9CourtListener. The PLS.com LLC v. The National Association of Realtors, 2:25-cv-05971
In May 2026, NAR escalated discovery by subpoenaing the American Real Estate Association, an alternative trade group Umansky co-founded with Compass agent Jason Haber in early 2024.13Real Estate News. NAR Subpoena in PLS Legal Battle Raises Questions The ARA reported over 25,000 members by late 2025.14RISMedia. NAR Demands Association Docs in Clear Cooperation Lawsuit The subpoena demands documents going back to January 1, 2017, including communications between the ARA and ThePLS.com, records on the CCP, communications with ThePLS.com’s co-founders, and materials about TheNLS.com, described as the Spanish-language counterpart of ThePLS.com.15HousingWire. NAR Subpoena ARA PLS
The subpoena also requests files on the “NAR Accountability Project,” a now-defunct initiative Haber launched in August 2023 that pushed for NAR leadership reform following sexual harassment allegations against former NAR President Kenny Parcell.13Real Estate News. NAR Subpoena in PLS Legal Battle Raises Questions Haber has refused to comply on that piece, calling it irrelevant to a listings suit. “We will not allow a legal filing about a listing network to compromise the privacy of people who had the courage to come forward,” he said.15HousingWire. NAR Subpoena ARA PLS The compliance deadline was June 18, 2026, and the ARA’s legal team was fighting the subpoena as of late June 2026.
Related Cases That Could Shape the Outcome
ThePLS.com is not the only party challenging the Clear Cooperation Policy, and several parallel fights could affect how a court rules here.
Top Agent Network, another private listing platform, filed a parallel antitrust suit against NAR in 2020. A district court initially dismissed TAN’s claims, but the Ninth Circuit revived the case, and the Department of Justice filed an amicus brief supporting TAN in 2023.16The Real Deal. National Association of Realtors Pocket Listing Suit Revived In July 2024, the district court allowed TAN’s Sherman Act and state-law claims to proceed, relying on the Ninth Circuit’s ruling in the PLS case and finding that TAN had adequately alleged the CCP functions as a per se group boycott in the market for real estate listing services.17FindLaw. Top Agent Network Inc. v. National Association of Realtors Whether courts treat the CCP as a per se boycott or apply the more lenient “rule of reason” is a central question in both cases.
Compass has filed its own suits over private listings, including an action against the Northwest Multiple Listing Service in April 2025 challenging NWMLS’s outright ban on pre-marketing and office exclusives.18Real Estate News. Compass Sues NWMLS Over Anticompetitive Rules A judge denied NWMLS’s motion to dismiss, and NWMLS filed counterclaims in June 2026 alleging that Compass’s phased marketing strategy is an unfair and deceptive practice.19The Real Deal. Northwest MLS Hits Back at Compass Antitrust Suit A separate Compass suit against Zillow was dismissed without prejudice in March 2026 after a New York federal judge declined to enter a preliminary injunction.20National Association of Realtors. Judge Rejects Compass’s Request to Block Zillow’s Private Listing Rule
Above all of this sits the DOJ’s Antitrust Division investigation into whether the CCP itself violates federal antitrust law. NAR obtained a 2020 closing letter from the DOJ and used it in the original PLS litigation to argue the government had cleared the policy. The DOJ withdrew consent to that earlier settlement in July 2021 and issued a new civil investigative demand.21U.S. Department of Justice. DOJ Court Ruling on NAR CID Investigation The D.C. Circuit ruled in April 2024 that the closing letter “unambiguously permits DOJ to reopen its investigation.” That inquiry remains open, and its outcome could reshape the legal ground under ThePLS.com’s claims.