Overview
- Federal regulators and five state attorneys general reached the settlement on Monday just before a federal trial in Alexandria, Virginia, that accused Zillow of paying Redfin $100 million in February 2025 to stop competing for large apartment listings.
- The proposed order frees Redfin to sell its own multifamily advertising again, forces it to hire a general manager, sales staff and customer support, and sets deadlines and fines if Redfin fails to relaunch within six months of final approval.
- Zillow must waive hiring and noncompete barriers, provide employee contact information to help Redfin recruit staff, and allow advertisers to renegotiate contracts so Redfin can rebuild business relationships it lost under the 2025 deal.
- The settlement preserves cross‑platform syndication of Zillow listings to Redfin through at least 2030, requires the companies to pay $2 million to state and federal authorities, and creates ongoing monitoring and reporting obligations for ten years.
- Regulators say the remedies aim to restore rivalry that they argue raised landlords’ per‑listing ad costs and reduced choices for renters, while critics note the deal is a behavioral fix that will test whether enforced reentry yields sustained competition.