The Federal Trade Commission and five state attorneys general reached a proposed settlement with Zillow and Redfin on Aug. 24, the day their antitrust case was scheduled to go to trial. If approved by a federal judge, the order would require Redfin to rebuild its independent multifamily rental-advertising business.
Redfin would have six months after the order becomes final to relaunch the operation. Zillow’s rental listings would still appear across Redfin, Rent.com and ApartmentGuide.com, allowing the companies’ syndication relationship to continue while Redfin resumes competing for multifamily advertising customers.
Why the FTC challenged the Zillow-Redfin deal
Zillow and Redfin announced their rental partnership in February 2025. Under the agreement, Zillow became the exclusive provider of multifamily rental listings for properties with 25 or more units across Redfin’s rental sites.
Regulators later alleged that the deal went beyond listing syndication. According to the FTC’s complaint, Zillow paid Redfin $100 million while Redfin agreed to wind down its multifamily advertising contracts, help transition customers to Zillow and stay out of the internet listing services, or ILS, advertising market for up to nine years.
Redfin also restructured its rentals operation after signing the agreement. The company said in an SEC filing that approximately 450 rental employees would be affected.
Zillow and Redfin have disputed regulators’ characterization of the agreement. The companies have maintained that wider syndication increased the rental inventory available to consumers while giving property marketers broader distribution.
What the proposed settlement requires
The proposed 10-year order would remove restrictions that limited Redfin’s ability to sell its own multifamily advertising products. Redfin would have to rebuild the technology needed to accept customer listings, hire a general manager along with sales and support staff, market the service and invest millions of dollars in the operation.
Zillow would also have to remove certain hiring restrictions and could not interfere with Redfin’s efforts to recruit employees or win multifamily advertising customers. For nine months after Redfin relaunches, Zillow would have to let ILS customers whose contracts cannot be canceled within three months renegotiate those agreements without additional fees or penalties.
The settlement would not end the companies’ existing relationship. Redfin, now part of Rocket Companies, said Zillow will continue providing multifamily listings and paying for renter leads through at least 2030. The companies also plan to offer separate multifamily advertising products beginning in 2027.
What changes for rental advertisers
Redfin is not yet operating the rebuilt advertising business. Its six-month deadline begins only after the order becomes final, and the FTC continued to list the case as pending as of Aug. 28.
Multifamily advertisers using Zillow should check whether their contracts can be canceled within three months. That provision determines whether they could qualify for the proposed nine-month renegotiation window after Redfin returns to the market.
Agents and brokerage leaders working with multifamily owners or rental marketers have the clearest direct exposure. The case also adds to scrutiny around how major real estate platforms distribute listings and compete for advertising business, an issue that has surfaced in other recent listing-access disputes.
For now, Zillow’s syndication across Redfin’s rental sites continues. If the order becomes final, Redfin will have to compete for multifamily advertising customers again while continuing to carry Zillow listings.