Zillow, Redfin settle lawsuits alleging they conspired to reduce competition for online rental listings

Zillow and Redfin agreed Monday to change the nature of their partnership to settle allegations from federal and state authorities that the companies had conspired to reduce competition and raised prices for online apartment listings.

The Federal Trade Commission and five state attorneys general, including New York's Letitia James, sued the companies, alleging that a $100 million deal between two of the country's most popular real estate websites violated federal antitrust law.

In February 2025, Zillow paid Redfin that sum to show only rental listings that also are shown on Zillow's network of sites, which include StreetEasy, Trulia and Long Island-focused site Out East. The partnership covered buildings with 25 units or more.

The settlement aims to create more competition among companies that help Americans search for housing at a time when the cost to purchase or rent a home has risen sharply, including on Long Island, and major real estate companies have joined together in high-profile acquisitions.

Mortgage giant Rocket Companies acquired Redfin for $1.75 billion last year, and Compass acquired Anywhere Real Estate for $1.6 billion in January to form the largest residential real estate brokerage.

Under the settlement, Zillow and Redfin must create standalone advertising products for multifamily rental housing by next year but they can continue to syndicate listings across their websites.

Attorney General James said the online listing platforms play a critical role in New Yorkers' search for housing and must compete for landlords' business.

“Zillow and Redfin’s illegal agreement to stop competing threatened to raise costs for both renters and landlords and make it harder for New Yorkers to find a place to live," James said in a statement. "After we took action to enforce the law, Zillow and Redfin will continue to compete and invest in improving their services.”

Zillow and Redfin also agreed to pay $2 million to federal and state authorities to cover fees and costs related to the litigation, which Zillow described as an "immaterial amount" in an SEC filing on Monday.

New York joined Arizona, Connecticut, Virginia and Washington state in suing the companies last year in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia. The states' case was consolidated with a case filed by the Federal Trade Commission in November.

A pretrial brief filed last week showed how the plaintiffs planned to make the case that the partnership raised costs for property managers and left renters with fewer options to browse online.

They cited expert testimony that property managers' per-listing spending on Zillow rose 14.5% on average following the February 2025 agreement.

The plaintiffs also cited evidence that some property managers who had advertised with Redfin chose not to advertise on one of the major real estate websites, which left renters with less access to listings, according to court documents.

Zillow disputed that point in an email to Newsday and said its syndication agreement with Redfin is pro-consumer because renters have more opportunities to find listings regardless of which website they visit to search.

The company noted the number of multifamily rental listings on Redfin's websites nearly quadrupled after the syndication pact, and landlords who advertised received greater exposure for their listings.

"Renters can see more listings, in more places, with less runaround, as a result of this partnership," a Zillow spokesperson said in an email

A Redfin spokesperson said the agreement will give the company time to build a standalone advertising product while visitors to its website continue to have access to a wide range of listings.

"This agreement allows us to maintain our rental partnership with Zillow through at least 2030 while building and investing in a standalone rentals business of our own," the spokesperson said in an email.

The settlement could help landlords find lower prices for advertising with Redfin back in the market, but it's unclear how much the company will invest to compete and the lengths the government will go to enforce the settlement, said Hofstra Law School Professor Ronald J. Colombo.

"Unless it's really blatant, it's going to be hard to prove they're not trying to pull their end of the bargain," he said.

Ultimately, Colombo said he doubts the settlement will provide much relief for Long Island renters, who Newsday has reported often struggle to find options priced at $2,500 or less per month.

"I don't think the Zillow-Redfin arrangement ranks very highly on the list of factors that have been making things miserable for renters on Long Island," he said.

By Jonathan LaMantia

jonathan.lamantia@newsday.com@jonlamantia

Jonathan LaMantia covers residential real estate and other business news on Long Island. He previously covered the business of health care for Crain's New York Business.