What Zillow’s New Policy Means for Your Listings

As a real estate professional, you first learned real estate listing standards in pre-license courses with regular refreshers through continuing education.

But this year, the rules changed in a way that could be devastating to your business if you’re not careful.

Below, we’ll explain the new Zillow listing rules, where they came from, how to comply, and the potential consequences if you don’t.

Why My Listing Isn’t Showing on Zillow

It’s entirely possible you’ve already been hit by the updated Zillow MLS policy, because the new rules took effect in May of 2025.

Maybe you landed here because you crafted a beautiful listing, submitted it to Zillow, and now it’s nowhere to be found on the live site. Stranger, it’s also missing on Trulia!

If that’s the case, it’s entirely possible you’ve run afoul of the new MLS listing deadline for Zillow. Unfortunately, there’s no way to turn back the clock for that particular listing; once the latest real estate listing standards are triggered, the applicable listing is blacklisted, period.

That said, allowing this to happen again could be a career wrecker, so keep reading to discover how you can avoid sanctioned listings in the future.

What Are Zillow’s New Listing Rules?

The essence of the updated Zillow MLS policy is that “a listing publicly marketed to any buyer should be marketed to every buyer.” In other words, once you start advertising your listing in one venue, you have to go wide within a single business day.

If you fail to do so, that listing will be hidden from the public on Zillow and its partner site Trulia for the entire life of the listing.

Why Did Real Estate Listing Standards Change?

Zillow’s listing rules didn’t come out of nowhere. They’re consistent with an industry-wide change initiated by the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR®). 

In 2020, the NAR® introduced a new requirement under MLS Statement 8.0 for its membership, which makes up roughly half of all real estate agents in the US. 

Known as the Clear Cooperation Policy (CCP), it was introduced to counter the growing phenomenon of purposefully withholding certain listings from the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) so they would be shared only with select clientele.

Some brokerages and brokerage groups promoted this marketing method as better for sellers, claiming that keeping a listing “private” or “exclusive” was a benefit. But the end result was shaving 5 to 17% off the sales value and excluding some buyers from access.

Ultimately, the NAR decided that the practice went against equal opportunity policies and had the potential to violate the Fair Housing Act, so it created the Clear Cooperation Policy. This called for listings to be posted to the MLS within one business day of public advertising. 

Later revisions of the CCP left room for “Office Exclusive Listings” and “Delayed Marketing Exempt Listings” that gave homeowners and REALTORS® the option of private sales or market testing as long as there was proper disclosure involved.

What Are the Consequences of Violating the Zillow MLS Policy?

NAR members risk significant fines by violating the Clear Cooperation Policy, but Zillow’s penalty – reduced visibility with no take-backs – is likely to be far more costly to agents in the long run, given the popularity of the platform.

Beginning June 30, 2025, agents who violate the MLS listing deadline for Zillow may face the removal of the delayed listing from Zillow and Trulia’s databases for the life of the listing. Repeat violations will trigger automatic takedowns, meaning some agents could effectively lose all access to the platform indefinitely.

Given that, according to Zillow, 80% of consumers go directly to their site when searching for residential real estate, that severely curtails an agent’s ability to get the property enough exposure.

There’s one more aspect of the rule that’s important to know: the ban of each listing only applies when it’s associated with the violating agent and brokerage agreement. In other words, clients are strongly incentivized to break their exclusive listing agreement and take their business to someone who can get it on Zillow.

Is There Any Leeway in the New Zillow Listing Rules?

Luckily, Zillow’s violation policy for its listing rules includes a three-strikes clause.

In other words, the first two times you’re found to violate the policy, Zillow will notify you by phone or email that you’ve violated Zillow listing rules. 

Beginning with the third violation, infractions will be blocked from the platform without any further warning. And again, repeat violations can get all your future listings removed automatically, even if you submit them to the MLS on time.

How To Comply with Zillow MLS Policy

The truth is that most agents already post listings to the MLS before or within a business day of beginning public marketing. Many people can continue business as usual.

But if you’ve ever used early marketing tactics or "coming soon" promotions, you need to be especially careful to comply with Zillow’s new requirements.

What Types of Marketing Trigger the New Zillow Listing Rules?

To avoid violating the Zillow MLS policy, you need to know exactly what will trigger your need to post a property to the MLS within a business day (a term that, for Zillow, excludes Saturdays, Sundays, and any federal holidays).

Zillow defines public marketing as “promoting, marketing or advertising a listing in any manner, which can mean:

• Flyers
• Yard signs
• Social media
• Public-facing websites or apps
• Emails
• Printed mailers
• Newspapers
• Open houses
• Previews
• Showings
• Multi-brokerage listing-sharing networks
• Virtual tours, and
• Brokerage private listing networks to the extent such listing network is publicly marketed and/or accessible to consumers, including those accessible only to a brokerage’s clients behind a registration wall.”

What Marketing Tactics Are Permitted Under Zillow’s MLS Policy?

Zillow does allow some kinds of marketing without triggering the one-day rule.

This includes:

• “Sneak peeks" that include no identifiers like address, price, or call to action, whether delivered via social media post, newsletter, or email to a private client
• Marketing followed by on-time entry in the MLS using the “coming soon” feature, opt out of internet display, or hide the address to maintain privacy

Continue Your Education Online with Us!

As an agent, it’s your responsibility to stay up to date on policies that affect real estate transactions, whether they’re the ones laid out by your local real estate board or by a commercial behemoth like Zillow. 

Thankfully, staying educated is easier than ever with online learning with a trusted training provider like us. We’ve offered state-approved pre-license curriculum for decades, along with continuing education that can help you fulfill your real estate license renewal requirements. Our courses are self-paced and mobile-friendly to give you maximum flexibility for fitting your study time into your busy schedule.

Enroll today to get started!