FTC accuses Zillow of paying $100 million to ‘dismantle’ Redfin

Thanks to a deal struck by Zillow and Redfin successful February, renters person had less options for browsing flat listings, and they mightiness not person adjacent realized it. Now the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is suing the companies alleging that their concern violates antitrust laws calling it, “an amerciable statement to dismantle Redfin arsenic a competitor.”

Zillow (which runs Trulia, HotPads, and StreetEasy) entered into a concern successful which it paid Redfin (which runs Rent.com and ApartmentGuide) to syndicate its ads for rentals. That means whether you were going to Zillow, Trulia, oregon Rent.com, you were seeing galore of the nonstop aforesaid listings. 

As portion of that deal, Redfin besides agreed to extremity its existing contracts with advertizing customers, transportation them to Zillow and, according to the FTC complaint, not vie with Zillow for multifamily spot listings for up to 9 years. In a property merchandise announcing the suit the FTC’s Director of the Bureau of Competition said that, “paying disconnected a rival to halt competing against you is simply a usurpation of national antitrust laws.”

The FTC further alleges that arsenic portion of this woody Redfin laid disconnected hundreds of workers, past helped Zillow cherry prime the ones it wanted. Effectively, it sounds similar the FTC is accusing Zillow of acquiring portion of Redfin’s business, but hiding down the guise of a “partnership” to effort and debar regulatory scrutiny. 

Between its ain listing sites, Redfin’s and Realtor.com (which Zillow entered a partnership with successful 2024) Zillow efficaciously controls the immense bulk of rental listings online erstwhile it comes to larger flat complexes. This could thrust up costs for landlords looking to database their apartments connected these sites and marque it harder for renters to find properties extracurricular of Zillow’s web of advertisers. Zillow had not responded to a petition for remark astatine the clip of publication.