Zillow and Redfin Settle FTC Antitrust Case Over $100 Million Rental Listings Deal

Zillow and Redfin settled with the FTC on Monday, avoiding a trial that was scheduled to start the same day. The deal unwinds a February 2025 agreement in which Zillow paid Redfin $100 million to shut down its own apartment-listings advertising business and exclusively repost Zillow's listings instead, according to the FTC.

The FTC sued in September 2025, arguing the arrangement let two of the biggest players in online rental listings agree not to compete. Arizona, Connecticut, New York, Virginia and Washington filed a parallel suit that got folded into the federal case in November 2025, according to Engadget. More than 30% of Americans rent, per census data cited by CNBC, which is the population the FTC says got hurt by higher advertising costs getting passed through in rents and worse listing quality.

An expert retained by the FTC and the states estimated Zillow customers paid an average of 14.5% more per listing after Redfin exited the market, CNBC reported. Some property managers reportedly stopped buying online listings altogether.

Redfin has to get back into the internet listing services business, and not quietly. The FTC says Redfin must relaunch with "significantly more listings" and make enforceable commitments to invest millions of dollars in the business, according to the FTC's own announcement. Zillow has to hand over employee information so Redfin can recruit staff back, per Engadget, and give customers a no-penalty way to renegotiate contracts signed under the old arrangement.

Washington Attorney General Nick Brown, who co-led the state coalition, said the settlement "paves the way for Redfin to re-enter the market as a stronger competitor," according to a statement from his office. Zillow and Redfin also have to pay the five states $2 million in costs and fees.

Redfin gets to keep syndicating Zillow's listings, and the two companies' partnership continues through at least 2030, according to both a Redfin spokesperson and the Real Estate News trade publication. Redfin doesn't have to give the $100 million back. The order contains no admission of liability or wrongdoing by Zillow, according to Morningstar's Dow Jones Newswires report.

Zillow Rentals general manager Michael Sherman called the arrangement "pro-consumer" and "procompetitive" both before and after the settlement, per Real Estate News. A Redfin spokesperson called the resolution "a significant win for Redfin and consumers across the country." FTC Bureau of Competition director Daniel Guarnera framed it as the FTC winning without the risk of trial, saying the deal "delivers better, quicker, more certain results for both renters and property management companies than we would have been able to achieve after prevailing at trial."

FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson tied the outcome to the administration's broader agenda, saying it provides competition that is "an integral component of President Donald Trump's domestic housing agenda," according to CNBC. New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat who has clashed with the Trump administration on plenty else, said the case "restored competition in online listing platforms," per CNBC. The agreement between a blue-state AG and a Trump-appointed FTC chair is noteworthy given how rarely they align.

A $100 million payment to kill a competitor is exactly the kind of conduct antitrust law exists to stop. The FTC's own complaint said Zillow and Redfin were competing head-to-head in buildings with 25-plus units before the deal, and prices went up 14.5% once that competition disappeared. That's a real number with a real mechanism behind it, not speculation.

But the fix here leaves the original commercial relationship standing. Zillow still gets Redfin's referral traffic. Redfin still displays Zillow's listings. The $100 million stays where it landed. What changes is that Redfin now has to spend its own money rebuilding a business it dismantled eighteen months ago, and Zillow has to help it do that by sharing employee contacts. That's a real remedy if Redfin actually executes on it. It's also a lighter outcome than a court forcing disgorgement or blocking the partnership outright.

Markets shrugged. Zillow shares ticked up 1.8% to $36.52 in midday trading Monday, according to Morningstar, though the stock is still down roughly 45% for the year. Rocket Companies, Redfin's parent, barely moved. Neither move suggests investors think this changes much about either company's business.

The settlement still needs court approval as a stipulated order. Redfin has until 2027 to actually stand up a competing standalone rentals product, per Real Estate News, which means the real test of whether this restores competition, or just restructures the same deal with better paperwork, won't be visible for at least another year.