Jeremy Verlinda Serves as Expert Economist for FTC in Zillow-Redfin Antitrust Challenge
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On August 24, 2026, the Federal Trade Commission, along with five states, announced a settlement resolving its antitrust challenge to an agreement between Zillow and Redfin. Zillow and Redfin are two of the leading online real estate listing platforms.
The FTC’s complaint, filed in September 2025 and later consolidated with parallel actions brought by the attorneys general of Arizona, Connecticut, New York, Virginia, and Washington, alleged that Zillow paid Redfin $100 million to terminate its rental advertising business and steer its customers to Zillow.
Dr. Jeremy Verlinda served as the FTC's expert economist throughout the litigation, submitting two expert reports and providing testimony at deposition in May 2026. Dr. Verlinda's analysis addressed the relevant geographic and product markets for rental listings and the competitive effects of the agreement, including effects on prices, listings quality, and number of listings. Dr. Verlinda’s reports also assessed the procompetitive justifications Zillow and Redfin offered in the agreement and the implications of two-sided platform economics on the analysis.
Under the consent order, which is subject to court approval, Redfin must relaunch its rental listings business within six months, and Zillow must waive noncompete agreements to help Redfin rebuild its team.
Dr. Verlinda, as an independent consultant, worked closely with the FTC’s Bureau of Competition and Bureau of Economics on this matter.