WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Trade Commission and five states reached a proposed settlement requiring Redfin to reenter the online rental-listings business and stripping restrictions from its $100 million agreement with Zillow, unwinding a deal regulators alleged eliminated a major competitor from an already concentrated market.
The stipulated order, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, would remain in effect for 10 years if approved by the court.
The FTC sued Zillow Group Inc., Zillow Inc. and Redfin Corp. in September 2025, alleging their February 2025 agreement unlawfully removed Redfin from competition in internet listing services for multifamily rental properties.
Under that agreement, Zillow paid Redfin $100 million, while Redfin agreed to end contracts with advertising customers, help transfer those customers to Zillow, repost Zillow-provided listings and remain outside the market for as long as nine years, according to the FTC.
The proposed order eliminates those restrictions and requires Redfin to rebuild an independent rental-advertising business within six months after the settlement becomes final.
“Today’s settlement unwinds an agreement under which Zillow paid Redfin $100 million to stop competing and hand off all its customers to Zillow,” Daniel Guarnera, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition, said.
Redfin will be required to rebuild the technology needed to accept and distribute customers’ rental listings across its sites, hire a general manager, sales staff and customer-support employees, and launch advertising for the business.
The company also committed to spend millions of dollars on the operation over multiple years, according to the FTC.
Redfin will continue carrying Zillow-syndicated listings while regaining the ability to compete for additional customers. The FTC said that arrangement should allow Redfin to return with significantly more rental listings than it had before the 2025 agreement.
The settlement also targets labor and customer-contract barriers that regulators say could hinder Redfin’s return.
Zillow must provide employee information allowing Redfin to recruit from its workforce and waive noncompete, anti-poaching and similar restrictions that could prevent those employees from joining Redfin. Zillow is also barred from interfering with Redfin’s recruiting efforts.
For nine months after Redfin relaunches its rental-listings business, Zillow must allow certain advertising customers with longer-term contracts to renegotiate without cost or penalty, giving them an opportunity to switch providers.
The FTC alleged the original arrangement reduced head-to-head competition between two of the country’s largest rental-listing networks. Zillow operates Zillow Rentals, Trulia and HotPads, while Redfin owns Rent.com and ApartmentGuide.com.
The agency argued that eliminating Redfin as an independent competitor further concentrated the market used by renters searching for apartments and property managers buying advertising.
Redfin faces monetary penalties if it fails to restart the business within the deadlines established by the order and must provide the FTC with regular compliance reports.
Both companies also would be required to notify regulators before entering future multifamily rental-listing syndication agreements containing provisions that restrict either party’s ability to compete for advertising customers.
Arizona, Connecticut, New York, Virginia and Washington joined the settlement after bringing related claims that were consolidated with the FTC case in November 2025.
The commission approved the proposed final order by a 2-0 vote. The settlement will become legally binding only if it is approved and signed by the federal judge overseeing the case.
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