Two U.S. senators are calling for a federal investigation into practices they say could be making it more expensive for Americans to buy a home.
In an October 15 letter to FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker urged the agency to investigate major real estate platforms and brokerages over concerns about potentially deceptive and anticompetitive practices in the home-buying industry.
Their argument is that some of the industry’s biggest players may be putting their own profits ahead of consumers.
The letter identified three specific practices they want the FTC to investigate.
1. Misleading “Contact Agent” Buttons
When buyers click “Contact Agent” on websites like Zillow, they may assume they’re contacting the agent who listed the property.
Instead, the buyer may be connected with an agent who has agreed to pay the platform a percentage of their commission in exchange for leads.
According to the senators, these arrangements aren’t always disclosed to consumers.
The letter states that buyers may be unaware they are “agreeing to pay inflated prices to cover the platform’s revenue cut.”
The concern isn’t simply that agents pay for leads. It’s whether buyers understand the financial relationships behind those recommendations and whether those arrangements ultimately increase their costs.
2. Steering Buyers Toward Affiliated Mortgage Lenders
The second concern involved agents referring buyers to mortgage lenders affiliated with the platforms generating their leads.
Warren and Booker allege that some platform-affiliated agents are required to direct buyers toward certain lenders, even when those lenders may offer higher interest rates or less favorable loan terms.
Similar to the “contact agent” button, the concern is that “neither the platform nor affiliated agents disclose these mortgage referral fees to buyers.”
3. Private Listings at Large Brokerages
The third concern has to do with brokerages rather than platforms. Warren and Booker point to dominant brokerages marketing homes to “a select group of buyers whose agents pay to play” instead of making them publicly accessible to all.
From the letter:
“This artificially restricts housing stock that is widely available to consumers and real estate agents, which could harm both buyers and sellers—buyers are shut out of the true market and sellers may end up with less interest and competition for their properties.”
The letter also alleges agents are “incentivized to work with each other to receive higher commissions or close using end-to-end transactions that benefit a single brokerage rather than seeking the best deal for their client.”
Why Are Senators Raising These Concerns Now?
The letter comes as housing affordability remains a major challenge for buyers across the country.
The senators point to several statistics illustrating affordability challenges:
- $440,600: The national median home price, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR) June 2026 existing home sales data.
- $2,199: The median monthly mortgage payment, representing nearly 25% of median monthly income.
- 40 years old: The median age of first-time homebuyers, compared with buyers in their late 20s during the 1980s.
With homeownership already out of reach for many Americans, the senators argue that undisclosed fees, potentially expensive mortgage referrals, and restricted access to listings could make matters worse.
They also point to the FTC’s recent action involving Zillow and Redfin’s rental advertising agreement.
In August, the FTC secured an order addressing antitrust concerns over an agreement in which Zillow paid Redfin to exit part of the online rental listing business.
Warren and Booker now want the agency to expand its focus from rental advertising to home sales.
The letter reads:
“We urge you to now investigate anticompetitive and deceptive practices in the home-buying market.”
This isn’t the first time Warren and Booker have raised concerns about competition in the real estate industry.
In August 2026, Warren sent a letter to Compass CEO Robert Reffkin to request information about the Compass-MRED partnership and private listings.
In December 2025, Warren urged federal regulators to scrutinize the $1.6 billion Compass-Anywhere merger, warning that it could keep commissions artificially high and give the combined company greater control over listings and the homebuying process.
Earlier, in June 2025, Warren and Booker questioned regulators over Rocket Companies’ acquisition of Redfin, raising concerns about mortgage steering and reduced competition.
The latest letter builds on those concerns, this time calling for a broader FTC investigation into practices across the homebuying industry.
What This Means for Real Estate Agents and Brokerages
For agents, the biggest takeaway is the possibility of increased scrutiny around three areas of the business: referral fees, mortgage relationships, and private listing strategies.
The questions raised by the senators go directly to how agents and brokerages serve their clients.
- Are buyers aware of the financial arrangements behind their agent connections?
- Are mortgage referrals being made in the buyer’s best interest?
- Are sellers getting the broadest exposure for their properties, or are brokerage business models influencing how homes are marketed?
These are not new debates within the industry. But with two U.S. senators now urging the FTC to investigate, they could receive more attention at the federal level.
For now, no new requirements have been established by this letter. What comes next will depend on whether the FTC decides to take action.
The full October 15 letter from Senators Warren and Warren is available here.
