The FTC Sues Zillow and Redfin Over Antitrust Violations
In a significant legal challenge, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has filed a lawsuit against Zillow and Redfin, alleging that their partnership constitutes an illegal agreement that undermines competition in the rental advertising market, reports 24brussels.
The lawsuit, announced on October 1, 2025, claims that the collaboration between Zillow, which operates popular real estate platforms like Trulia and StreetEasy, and Redfin, owner of Rent.com, restricts the choices available to renters and limits competition among rental advertising services. The FTC’s position is that the partnership violates federal antitrust laws by dismantling Redfin as a competitor.
Key to the FTC’s allegations is a deal struck in February 2025, whereby Zillow compensated Redfin for syndicating its rental listings. Consequently, users across both Zillow and Redfin’s platforms began encountering the same set of listings, effectively reducing market options. Additionally, Redfin reportedly terminated existing contracts with its own advertising customers to consolidate its services with Zillow, agreeing to a nine-year moratorium on competing for multifamily property listings.
In remarks accompanying the lawsuit, the FTC’s Director of the Bureau of Competition emphasized that “paying off a competitor to stop competing against you is a violation of federal antitrust laws.” Furthermore, the commission alleges that in the wake of this deal, Redfin laid off hundreds of employees, enabling Zillow to selectively hire from this pool. The FTC contends that this maneuver resembles an acquisition under the pretense of a partnership, designed to evade scrutiny from regulatory authorities.
The FTC also pointed out that Zillow, through its own platforms along with Redfin’s and a previous partnership with Realtor.com in 2024, has amassed control over a substantial share of rental listings for large apartment complexes. This consolidation of power raises concerns that it may inflate listing costs for landlords and hinder renters’ access to diverse rental options outside Zillow’s advertising network. At the time of publication, Zillow had not responded to requests for comment regarding the lawsuit.
