FTC Distributes Opendoor Fine Money to Duped U.S. Home Sellers

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) plans to distribute approximately $62 million to 54,689 homeowners who sold their properties to iBuyer Opendoor.

The reimbursement follows an FTC ruling in 2022 on the iBuying company's alleged deception of consumers with misleading advertising claims. The agency's statement on the ruling was emphatic in its wording.

"Opendoor cheated home sellers by tricking them into thinking that they could make more money selling their home to Opendoor than on the open market using the traditional sales process while saving them money on costs."

The refund checks, averaging $1,024, have been dispatched but remain uncashed. A substantial portion of the recipients are from Arizona, where Opendoor originated in 2014, and Texas, where it expanded in the subsequent year.

In a statement from 2022, Opendoor acknowledged settling with the FTC despite disagreeing strongly with the allegations. The company emphasized its commitment to resolving the matter and highlighted that the complaint related to practices that it no longer engages in.

"Importantly, the allegations raised by the FTC are related to activity that occurred between 2017 and 2019 and target marketing messages the company modified years ago. We are pleased to put this matter behind us and look forward to continuing to provide consumers with a modern real estate experience."

Opendoor is the largest remaining iBuyer in the US market. Rivals Zillow and Redfin exited the iBuying market in 2021 and 2022 respectively.