Attorney General James Stops Illegal Scheme to Eliminate Competition Between Zillow and Redfin

August 24, 2026

NEW YORK - New York Attorney General Letitia James, a coalition of four other attorneys general, and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) today put an end to an illegal agreement between Zillow Group, Inc. (Zillow) and Redfin Corporation (Redfin) that prevented them from competing. Redfin and Zillow operate two of the top three largest websites for renters to search for apartments and for building managers to list their available units. In February 2025, Zillow paid Redfin $100 million to shut down its multifamily rental advertising business and transfer its clients to Zillow. In exchange, Redfin agreed to use its websites to exclusively display copies of Zillow's apartment rental listings and stay out of the multifamily rental advertising market for up to nine years.

In October 2025, Attorney General James and the coalition sued Zillow and Redfin for violating federal antitrust laws with this agreement, which harmed both building managers and renters with higher prices, fewer listings, and lower quality services. Under a settlement with the coalition of attorneys general and FTC, Redfin and Zillow must resume competing as they did before the illegal agreement. Redfin will rebuild its apartment advertising business and sell its own advertising products. In addition, Zillow and Redfin must eliminate the anticompetitive provisions of their agreement, including terms that prevent Redfin from competing independently against Zillow with its own apartment rental listings and advertisements.

"Online rental listing platforms are critical tools that New Yorkers rely on to find affordable homes," said Attorney General James. "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. After we took action to enforce the law, Zillow and Redfin will continue to compete and invest in improving their services."

Zillow and Redfin agreed to stop competing when they implemented an unlawful scheme through 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 stop competing in the market for advertising apartments in buildings with 25 units or more and transfer its multifamily advertising business to Zillow. Under the Content License Agreement, Redfin agreed to stay out of the multifamily advertising market for up to nine years and instead use its network to show only apartment rental listings that are also displayed on Zillow's sites. Attorney General James and the coalition argued that these agreements would stifle innovation and improvements to Zillow and Redfin's services, and result in higher prices, lower-quality rental advertising, and fewer choices for both renters seeking a home and management companies advertising their properties.

Under the settlement, Zillow and Redfin must restore the competition that existed prior to their unlawful agreement. Redfin will invest in rebuilding its apartment advertising business and hire staff to acquire and maintain customers. Redfin will once again be able to list its own apartment units and will no longer have to exclusively show Zillow's listings. Zillow and Redfin are also barred from entering into future anticompetitive agreements. As a result, Redfin and Zillow will again compete for both advertisers and renters, and will be incentivized to attract users by innovating and improving their services. The companies must also pay the coalition $2 million.

Joining Attorney General James in securing this settlement are FTC and the attorneys general of Arizona, Connecticut, Washington, and Virginia.

For New York, this matter was led by Assistant Attorney General Luisa Di Lauro and Senior Enforcement Counsel Michael Schwartz, under the supervision of Deputy Bureau Chief Amy McFarlane and Bureau Chief Elinor Hoffmann, all of the Antitrust Bureau. The Antitrust Bureau is 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 Meghan Faux.