Two of the country’s top property listing websites will end an anticompetitive scheme harming consumers under a settlement announced Monday with a coalition of five attorneys general and the Federal Trade Commission, or FTC.
The settlement restores competition in apartment advertising between Zillow Group Inc. and Redfin Corp., which operate two of the top three largest websites for renters to search for apartments and for building managers to list their available units.
“Today’s settlement will restore competition by paving the way for Redfin to re-enter the market as a stronger competitor,” Nick Brown, Washington state attorney general, said in a statement. “Most importantly, consumers will have more choices and won’t be subjected to illegally manipulated prices.”
In February 2025, Zillow paid Redfin $100 million to shut down its multifamily rental advertising business and transfer its clients to Zillow. In exchange, Redfin agreed to use its websites to exclusively display copies of Zillow’s apartment rental listings and stay out of the multifamily rental advertising market for up to nine years.
Eight months later, the attorneys general sued Zillow and Redfin for violating federal antitrust laws with the agreement, which resulted in higher prices and lower quality services. The states’ case was later consolidated with a similar FTC lawsuit.
Under the settlement with the attorneys general and the FTC, which needs to be approved by the court, Zillow and Redfin are required restore the competition that existed prior to their unlawful agreement.
Redfin will invest in rebuilding its apartment advertising business and hiring staff to acquire and maintain customers. Redfin will again be able to list its own apartment units and will no longer have to only show Zillow’s listings. Zillow and Redfin are also barred from entering into future anticompetitive agreements.
As a result, Redfin and Zillow will again compete for both advertisers and renters and will be incentivized to attract users by innovating and improving their services, Brown said.
The companies will also pay the states $2 million in costs and fees.
