A federal judge in Virginia has scheduled an August trial date for the Federal Trade Commission's lawsuit against Zillow and Redfin. This development follows the judge's rejection of the companies' efforts to dismiss the case. The FTC alleges that Zillow and Redfin entered into an illegal agreement to eliminate Redfin as a competitor in the market for advertising multifamily rental listings through a $100 million payment and other compensation from Zillow.
The FTC's complaint, initially filed in September 2025, asserts that this partnership would decrease the number of websites offering apartment listings, thereby limiting consumer choices and potentially increasing advertising costs for properties. The agreement stipulates that Redfin would terminate contracts with advertising customers, assist Zillow in acquiring their business, cease competing in the multifamily advertising market for up to nine years, and function as an exclusive syndicator of Zillow's listings. The FTC claims this arrangement harms both property managers and renters by fostering higher prices and worse terms for advertising, and by reducing incentives for Zillow and Redfin to compete.
Five state attorneys general from Arizona, Connecticut, New York, Virginia, and Washington had also filed a lawsuit with similar allegations in October 2025. In November 2025, Judge Anthony Trenga consolidated these separate antitrust lawsuits. Despite Zillow's and Redfin's arguments that the partnership benefits consumers and that the lawsuit misunderstands the rental listing market, the judge found the FTC's allegations of anti-competitive conduct plausible, allowing the case to proceed to trial.
