Suite says Zillow uses 'kickbacks' to boost its business
By: Maddle McGay
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey
..... Zillow, the nation's leading real estate platform, is facing a new class-action lawsuit that says the company used illegal kickbacks that encouraged affiliated agents to steer home-buyer to use its own mortgage business.
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The lawsuit filed on November 7 [2025] in U.S. District Court in Seattle, alleges that Zillow requires those in its Premier Agents and Flex programs to meet specific Zillow Home Loan pre-approval quotas. Those who meet the quotas receive better leads and placement, the suit says, and those who don't receive fewer leads or removal form the program.
..... "This case is about kickbacks that Defendants Zillow Group, Incorporated, Zillow Incorporated and Zillow Home Loans, LLC (together, "Zillow") gave to real estate brokers in the form of access to value customer leads, explicitly in exchange for sending those customers to Zillow's financing arm for mortgages. That arrangement is per se illegal under federal law," the lawsuit says.
..... "Without their knowledge, buyers are being steered toward ZHL mortgages, not because they are a better product, but because the agents are rewired to do so by Zillow in order to get the leads needed for their business," the suit says.
..... Plaintiff Araba Armstrong said that when she purchased her first home in Anchorage, Alaska, in 2024 with the help of a Zillow-affilated agent, she was led to believe that she was obligated to use Zillow Home Loans for her mortgage, according to the lawsuit.
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The lawsuit says those practices violate the Washington Consumer Protection Act and Section 8 of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, and that Zillow "aided and abetted breaches of fiduciary duty" by affiliated agents.
..... The suit seek to represent all other U.S. consumers who were subjected to these practices. it requires a halt to Zillow's practices, damages for all affected consumers, and disgorgement and restitution of profits from the practices.
..... Zillow did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NorthJersey.com .
..... This is the sixth federal lawsuit against Zillow in the second half of 2025 that targets its business practices.
..... They include two lawsuits aimed at an allegedly illegal agreement between Zillow and Redfin to remove competition from the rental listings market, and another class-action lawsuit hat says Zillow tricks consumers into using agents affiliated with the company, resulting in inflated commissions and home prices.