Three Virginia congressional representatives have sent letters to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) encouraging further investigation into listing portal practices and their effects on housing affordability. Jennifer McClellan and Don Beyer (both Democrats) sent a letter to FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson on May 29. On June 12, Ben Cline (a Republican) sent a second, substantively similar letter, indicating bipartisan scrutiny on this issue.
The accusations reference (and mostly reiterate) claims made in a consumer class-action lawsuit filed against Zillow last year by one of the same law firms behind the original commission lawsuits. Zillow has denied that its policies are anti-consumer, disputing that any consumers were harmed by the so-called “lead diversion” model.
Beyer and McClellan’s letter was previously reported on by both trade and mainstream media, but Cline’s letter would appear to show continued awareness and scrutiny of the issue in Congress.
Both letters cite consumer-facing features used on listing platforms such as “contact agent” and “request tour.” The letters in turn claim that clicking these buttons direct buyers toward platform-affiliated agents “without clear disclosure of underlying financial relationships or compensation structures” between the agent and the listing platform.
“When consumers are not fully informed, they may incur higher transaction costs or receive less favorable financial terms than they would in a more transparent marketplace,” reads McClellan and Beyer’s letter. This letter calls the practice “deceptive or insufficiently transparent,” while Cline’s letter outright suggests it is “unlawful.”
Cline’s letter also points to supposed “mortgage steering policies (that) require those affiliated agents to route buyers to platform-affiliated mortgage lenders” without transparency of this to the buyer. “These two practices saddle buyers with higher-cost mortgages and thousands of dollars in platform-related agent fees,” claimed Cline in the letter.
Both letters claim these practices are potentially driving up home and rental prices. Cline’s letter cites data from the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) about the rising prices and increasing age of homebuyers, specifically the Q2 2025 quarterly housing affordability report and NAR’s 2025 profile of buyers and sellers.
Separately, Zillow faces a lawsuit by the FTC over its 2025 deal with Redfin to “partner” on rental listings, which the FTC claims was actually Zillow paying off Redfin to stop the rival portal from competing. Zillow and Redfin have also denied those claims, as a judge ruled the case can move forward.
While rentals have been a growing part of Zillow’s business (with revenue in that sector growing 42% from 2025 to 2026), lead generation remains a core part of the company’s model, with $450 million in revenue attributed to residential in Q1 2026, and the company touting growth in its Zillow Preferred lead sales program as driving that segment.
“The FTC has already recognized the harm that deceptive practices can cause in the housing market, most recently through its proposed rule addressing undisclosed fees in the rental housing context,” noted McClellan and Beyer’s letter, referring to a rule proposed by FTC in March 2026—and a solicitation for public input—to “address unfair or deceptive acts or practices relating to advertised rent and other fees and charges in the rental housing industry.”
