WA, 4 other states sue Zillow and Redfin in major antitrust showdown
Washington filed a lawsuit Oct. 1 against Zillow and Redfin over allegations that the real-estate giants violated antitrust laws.
Four other states were also plaintiffs in the lawsuit: Virginia, Arizona, Connecticut and New York. The case was filed in U.S. district court in Virginia.
The attorneys general claim that earlier this year, Zillow and Redfin came to an agreement that effectively secured Zillow’s dominance in the online rental-ad market. In so doing, they allege, the two Seattle-based companies ran afoul of antitrust laws.
“Amid a housing crisis in Washington, ensuring robust competition in rental advertising is vital,” Attorney General Nick Brown said in a statement. “Enforcing our antitrust laws to keep the marketplace fair, protect consumers, and prevent companies from building monopolies is a priority for our office.”
Washingtonians and people nationwide increasingly depend on internet listing services (ILS) to search for rental housing.
The illegal deal, per the AG’s office: Zillow agreed to give $100 million to Redfin so that the latter would leave the ILS advertising market for multifamily properties with at least 25 units. The lawsuit says that after the plan was announced, Redfin swiftly let go of hundreds of employees and agreed to assist Zillow in hiring them.
As Redfin’s advertising sales business slowed, it handed Zillow certain competitively sensitive information, the suit says. Today Redfin’s multifamily rentals business — once growing — has stopped operating. Its websites moving forward will function as one of several “syndicators” that feature a copy of listings from Zillow, thereby serving as an extension of Zillow’s ILS for large rental properties, plaintiffs allege.
“The wholesale elimination of critical competition in this highly concentrated space will harm rental advertisers and the Americans who rely on ILSs to find their next home,” the lawsuit says.
Redfin strongly opposes the claims made in the lawsuit and believes that a court will vindicate it, a spokesperson said in an emailed statement. Redfin defended the partnership as granting its online visitors more access to listings, as well as offering advertising customers greater access to renters.
By the end of last year, Redfin realized that the number of its ad customers couldn’t justify the expenses associated with maintaining its rentals sales force, the spokesperson said. Its Zillow partnership slashed such costs and allowed the company to make more investments in other rental-search innovations, benefiting housing-seekers directly.
A Zillow spokesperson sent a statement defending the listing syndication as helping property managers and renters alike, adding that it broadened “renters’ access to multifamily listings across multiple platforms.”
“It is pro-competitive and pro-consumer by connecting property managers to more high-intent renters so they can fill their vacancies and more renters can get home,” the spokesperson said. “We remain confident in this partnership and the enhanced value it has delivered and will continue to deliver to consumers.”
Another lawsuit was filed against the two housing-rental titans on Sept. 30, this one by the Federal Trade Commission.
Washington and the other four states want a court to issue an order to stave off future violations and reestablish competition.
This story was originally published October 1, 2025 at 10:40 AM.
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