Zillow and Redfin agreed on Aug. 24 to settle a federal and multistate antitrust case over their rental-listings partnership, with Redfin required to restart its standalone rental advertising business within six months after the order becomes final.
The Federal Trade Commission, joined by attorneys general from Arizona, Connecticut, New York, Virginia and Washington, filed the proposed order in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. It would remain in effect for 10 years. The order will carry the force of law only after a judge approves and signs it.
Redfin must rebuild its rental advertising business
The settlement would remove provisions that limited Redfin’s ability to sell rental advertising, display listings from its own customers and compete for property managers. Redfin could continue syndicating Zillow listings, but its sites would no longer be restricted to serving as a mirror of Zillow’s rental inventory.
Within six months after the order is finalized, Redfin must rebuild the technology needed to distribute customer listings across its rental sites. It also must hire a general manager, sales staff and a trained customer support team, launch marketing for the business and make a multiyear investment in the operation. The FTC said Redfin committed to spend millions of dollars on the relaunch.
Zillow would have to support the reentry by providing information that allows Redfin to recruit Zillow employees and by waiving noncompete, anti-poaching and similar restrictions for those workers. For nine months after Redfin restarts the business, Zillow also must give certain rental-advertising customers the ability to renegotiate contracts without cost or penalty.
The 2025 partnership prompted the challenge
The FTC sued in September 2025, alleging Zillow had paid Redfin $100 million for Redfin to end contracts with rental advertisers, help transfer those customers to Zillow, exclusively repost Zillow apartment listings and remain outside the internet-listing-services advertising market for as long as nine years. The agency said the arrangement reduced competition in a market used by property managers to advertise multifamily rentals and by consumers to find apartments.
Zillow and Redfin disputed that characterization. Zillow said Monday that it had consistently maintained the partnership was pro-consumer and procompetitive, according to The Associated Press. Redfin said the settlement would let it preserve its Zillow partnership through at least 2030 while building and investing in a standalone rental business.
The proposed order resolves the FTC case and the consolidated state litigation. The commission approved the agreement in a 2-0 vote. Redfin could face monetary penalties if it misses the required relaunch deadlines, and both companies would have to provide compliance information to the FTC.
What changes for the rental market
The immediate business consequence is the planned return of an independent sales channel for multifamily property managers. Redfin would be able to pursue advertising clients and add non-Zillow listings while retaining Zillow inventory, giving its rental sites a broader base from which to compete.
For Zillow, the order preserves a syndication relationship but removes contractual protections that the government said insulated it from head-to-head competition. The customer-renegotiation window is designed to make that competition practical by letting qualifying property managers consider Redfin’s rebuilt offering without waiting for longer contracts to expire.
Renters will not see an instant change: Redfin has six months after court approval to relaunch, and the order is still awaiting a judge’s signature. The longer-term test will be whether renewed competition produces more listing options, better advertising terms for property managers and stronger investment in the digital tools consumers use to search for homes.