Attorney General James Sues Zillow and Redfin for Unlawful Scheme to Cease Competing for Condominium Commercials

NEW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James as we speak joined a bipartisan coalition of states in suing Zillow Group, Inc. (Zillow) and Redfin Corporation (Redfin), two of the nation’s largest on-line condominium rental marketplaces, for an unlawful scheme to cease competing with one another. Zillow and Redfin, which owns Rent.com, fiercely competed as two of the highest three corporations that supply promoting for condominium leases on-line. In February 2025, Zillow and Redfin entered into agreements beneath which Zillow paid Redfin $100 million to close down its condominium rental promoting enterprise and switch its shoppers to Zillow. The lawsuit alleges that Zillow and Redfin’s agreements violate federal antitrust legal guidelines and will hurt renters in addition to these promoting flats for lease in multifamily buildings.

“Millions of New Yorkers rely on online apartment listings to find an affordable and safe place to live,” mentioned Attorney General James. “Zillow’s attempt to shut down its competition could drive up costs for advertisers and leave renters with fewer options when searching for a new apartment. New Yorkers are already struggling with an unaffordable housing market, and I will fight to stop this illegal deal that could make it even harder to find a home.”

The marketplace for on-line condominium rental promoting is already extremely concentrated, with simply three corporations – Zillow, Redfin, and CoStar (proprietor of Apartments.com) – accounting for 85 % of all market income. For years, these corporations have competed fiercely to promote promoting to property administration corporations and landlords and appeal to potential renters. This competitors incentivized Redfin and Zillow to put money into bettering their person experiences to draw extra advertisers and renters.

Competition between Zillow and Redfin ended once they carried out an illegal scheme by way of two agreements signed on February 6, 2025, a Partnership Agreement and a Content License Agreement. Under the Partnership Agreement, Zillow paid Redfin $100 million to exit the marketplace for promoting flats in buildings with 25 models or extra and switch Redfin’s multifamily promoting enterprise to Zillow, its direct competitor. Under the Content License Agreement, Redfin agreed to remain out of the multifamily promoting marketplace for as much as 9 years and as an alternative use its community to point out solely condominium rental listings which might be additionally displayed on Zillow’s websites. While the settlement is at present restricted to buildings with 25 or extra models, it expressly proposes an extension to all condominium buildings. As a results of this illegal settlement, Redfin fired roughly 450 workers related to its multifamily rental promoting enterprise.

Attorney General James and the coalition argue that Zillow and Redfin’s illegal scheme considerably hurts competitors within the condominium promoting market. This lack of competitors might end in increased costs, lower-quality rental promoting, and fewer decisions – each for landlords searching for to promote leases and for renters searching for a house.

Zillow and Redfin’s illegal agreements might additionally hurt potential renters by undermining the businesses’ incentives to compete for visitors. Attorney General James and the coalition argue that beneath the agreements, Redfin will earn income by referring renters to Zillow, decreasing its incentives to enhance its person expertise and innovate to draw new clients.

Attorney General James and the coalition are searching for a courtroom ruling declaring that Zillow and Redfin’s agreements violate federal antitrust legal guidelines and an injunction that will prohibit Zillow and Redfin from partaking of their illegal conduct and restore competitors. The lawsuit additionally proposes divestiture of property or reconstruction of companies to revive competitors. 

Joining Attorney General James in submitting this lawsuit are the attorneys basic of Arizona, Connecticut, Washington, and Virginia.

This matter is led for New York by Assistant Attorney General Luisa Di Lauro and Michael Schwartz, beneath the supervision of Amy McFarlane, Deputy Bureau Chief, and Elinor Hoffmann, Bureau Chief – the entire Antitrust Bureau. The Antitrust Bureau is a part of the Economic Justice Division, led by Chief Deputy Attorney General for Economic Justice Chris D’Angelo and overseen by First Deputy Attorney General Jennifer Levy.