The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has sued online real estate brokerages Zillow and Redfin, alleging collusion to suppress rental advertising competition.
According to the FTC complaint, Zillow and Redfin entered a rental listing partnership worth $100 million in February 2025, whereby Redfin agreed to stop competing with advertisers, end contracts with existing partners and syndicate Zillow listings on its own website. Zillow effectively bought Redfin’s share of the rental advertising market, the commission’s complaint claims.
“Just after the announcement of the plan, Redfin promptly terminated hundreds of employees who had supported this business and agreed to help Zillow hire them,” the FTC also alleges, calling the agreement “nothing more than an end run around competition that insulates Zillow from head-to-head competition” with Redfin.
For potential violations of Section 1 of the Sherman Act and Section 7 of the Clayton Act, the FTC authorized the filing of Tuesday’s complaint in a 3-0 vote and seeks to compel the companies to end the deal, which may involve divestiture of assets or even a requirement that Redfin rebuild its rentals advertising unit to restore competition.
“Paying off a competitor to stop competing against you is a violation of federal antitrust laws,” said Daniel Guarnera, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition, in a statement Tuesday. “Zillow paid millions of dollars to eliminate Redfin as an independent competitor in an already concentrated advertising market.”
Rocket Companies, the parent company of Rocket Mortgage, one of the largest mortgage lenders in the U.S., acquired Redfin in a $1.75 billion deal in July.
“Redfin strongly disagrees with the FTC’s allegations and is confident we will be vindicated by a court of law,” the company said in a statement provided to Scotsman Guide. “Our partnership with Zillow has given Redfin.com visitors access to more rental listings and our advertising customers access to more renters.”
A Zillow spokesperson wrote in a statement that “our listing syndication with Redfin benefits both renters and property managers and has expanded renters’ access to multifamily listings across multiple platforms.”
The statement concluded: “It is pro-competitive and pro-consumer by connecting property managers to more high-intent renters so they can fill their vacancies and more renters can get home. We remain confident in this partnership and the enhanced value it has delivered and will continue to deliver to consumers.”
