For the last five months, Toronto-based real estate platform Listed has been cut off from sought-after data that’s helped make it popular with consumers, and a useful sales and marketing tool for nearly 1,200 paying agents in Ontario.
Founder and CEO Catharine MacIntosh is now making a plea to the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB) to have the data restored.
Listed powers single-agent websites and apps, and touts a consumer experience that “makes real estate as easy as scrolling through your Instagram feed.”
Critical to its popularity is the display of Virtual Office Website (VOW) data, which includes nuggets of information like the sold price, delisting history and possession date of properties.
MacIntosh said TRREB first reached out in June 2024, wanting to know more about the app and how it works. MacIntosh said she then provided a detailed response.
In November 2024, TRREB sent another communication, saying it still didn’t understand how Listed was operating, said MacIntosh.
“We gave them this massive reply that was hand delivered to their legal counsel’s office, and then we heard nothing, and the data stayed on, and everything was perfect,” MacIntosh said.
“And then all of a sudden, in June 2025, they said they’re turning off the data.”
What’s the issue?
MacIntosh said that over the past 18 months, Listed has fully cooperated with TRREB, providing complete technical documentation, legal responses, operational updates, and has offered an independent third-party audit.
She said it still isn’t clear to her what rule TRREB believes Listed was breaking.
“TRREB’s data and technical teams have not identified any instance of non-compliance,” she said.
She said TRREB has had a misconception about how Listed works.
“They thought data was going to this entity called Listed,” she said. “But Listed only exists like an empty shell, and doesn’t come to life until it’s got a real estate agent who wants to have it and has valid real estate agreements behind it.”
She said Listed is a design platform, and doesn’t have rights to the data. Its members – real estate agents – hold the rights, she said.
She said her clientele of agents and brokerages are all subject to approved data agreements before becoming active members of Listed.
“When those approvals of those data agreements come in from PropTx, then their Listed is filled with the data, and the site is made live,” she said.
She said consumers can only sign in through their agent.
“It’s just a modern way of having a website that’s available on the app store. It’s provisioned to the person who’s allowed to have the data.”
TRREB’s response
Real Estate Magazine asked TRREB why VOW data was cut off from Listed, and if it sees a path toward restoring the data.
TRREB provided a statement via email from CEO John DiMichele, which said, “As this matter involves confidential matters involving legal counsel with a private company and which is ongoing, TRREB will not provide public comment out of respect for the confidentiality of our members, and contractual matters.”
A possible partnership in the making?
MacIntosh said another thing that is difficult to understand is how Listed went from being denied Affiliated VOW Partner (AVP) status, to then being invited by TRREB to present a business proposal that could set the table for potential business negotiations between them.
“We moved from four months of discussion with TRREB’s legal council and our legal council to them saying, ‘Hey, why don’t you bring us a business proposal?’,” said MacIntosh.
She said a proposal was prepared and sent to TRREB on Oct. 7. It lays out a range of options, from turning the data back on and allowing Listed to carry on as it was, all the way to having TRREB acquire Listed.
“We’re open to anything they want to do,” she said.
MacIntosh said the first step toward working together would be approving Listed as an AVP and restoring VOW data rights to members using Listed-powered single-agent websites and apps, effective immediately. She’s hoping that will happen at TRREB’s next board meeting.
And once that happens, “we’re happy to work together,” said MacIntosh.
Listed is a comparable and competing mobile-first product to the Realm, a tool available to TRREB members by its for-profit technology subsidiary PropTx.
Agent members paying the price
MacIntosh said some brokers have paid thousands of dollars to change all of their marketing to include Listed, and now some are pulling back and going to other apps. MacIntosh said agents have had a loss of business and even faced reputational harm
MacIntosh said Listed has about 1,200 active agent profiles. There are 3,000 agents in total, including active members, who are somewhere in the pipeline of the approvals process, she said.
Agents can get Listed for roughly $100 per month, or about $150 for the premium version.
Listed has about 25,500 consumer users accessing the platform through their agent, said MacIntosh.
Real estate community advocating for Listed
Richard Silver, a sales rep and Silver Burtnick & Associates team leader with Sotheby’s International Realty Canada, said Listed has helped him sell several properties. He said Listed has a better user experience and offers more features compared to similar platforms available.
“The clients loved it, and the clients still love it, except now they’re constantly saying, ‘Why is the data gone?’,” said Silver, a past president of the board.
“It’s much more user-friendly than the present Realm app that’s given by TRREB.”
Since Sept. 11, Silver has been pressing TRREB for answers.
“I’ve talked to members on the board and they say, ‘Well we can’t say anything,’ and I’m going, well, that’s ridiculous,” he said.
“I was on the board myself for 12 years, and we could always discuss what the reasons were, or why things were not working out, and I haven’t really had any sort of clarification whatsoever.”
Silver has asked TRREB to provide three things:
- The policy, rule, or section of the VOW Agreement or MLS Rules & Policies that Listed is alleged to have violated.
- Confirmation that TRREB is applying the same standard and enforcement to all VOW providers, not only Listed.
- An estimated timeframe for when a decision will be made regarding reactivation or next steps.
TRREB says it’s confidential
Silver received a reply from TRREB’s general counsel Christopher Smart on Nov. 11, which said there are “several legal issues related to Listed and how it gained access to and made use of the VOW data feed.”
“As you are aware, access to and use of the VOW data feed involves complex matters whereby TRREB must ensure strict compliance as well as maintain a level playing field in accordance with its obligations,” reads the email.
“The issues that arise in this regard are very serious and accordingly TRREB must maintain confidentiality for the sake of all parties involved. TRREB is still exploring possibilities but any discussion in this regard must also remain confidential for obvious reasons.”
MacIntosh says Listed will continue on – no matter what
MacIntosh said if VOW data isn’t restored, Listed will still exist. But without sold data – which is what Listed is most commonly used for – the company’s growth will hinge on expansion in other provinces and states, she said.
“TRREB makes up less than one per cent of North American listings. We will thrive with the 550 other MLSes that are in North America and other places in the world,” she said, adding: “We just want to (grow) in the city we love, with the people we know.”
Her company has other revenue streams, so “it will be fine,” she said, but “this has certainly hurt us. Moreso this has hurt the agents who rely on us.”
Courtney Zwicker is a digital reporter and associate editor for REM. Based in Atlantic Canada, she has over a decade of experience covering daily business news.