The Zillow–Redfin antitrust settlement filed on August 24 is not yet an operating ten-year order. The filed document still has a blank court-entry date and judge signature, and the FTC case page remains Pending. Court entry is the trigger: only then would the competitive restraints end and the restoration clocks begin.
If entered, the order would require more than changing a contract. Redfin would have six months to rebuild an independent multifamily rental-advertising business, while Zillow would have to support employee recruiting, preserve listing syndication, and later give certain customers a nine-month opportunity to exit or renegotiate contracts. The visual is a dependency network because none of those duties alone proves competition has been restored.
The question this map answers
What must happen before the proposed Zillow–Redfin settlement changes the market, which obligations depend on court entry or Redfin's completed rebuild, and what evidence would show each state was reached?
MyMap observed the filed order, FTC complaint, case page, and company announcement at 4:06 AM Pacific Time on August 26. The order was stipulated by counsel on August 22 and filed on August 24. This article does not assume that the court entered it after the observation time.
In this map, entry means a judge has signed and dated the order. Reentry means Redfin has satisfied the order's four public operating requirements, not merely announced a plan. A trigger edge starts a later clock. A continuing duty remains applicable for its stated term. An allegation is a plaintiff's claim, not a finding or admission.
The 2025 arrangement and the 2026 remedy are different evidence layers
Zillow and Redfin announced in February 2025 that Zillow would become the exclusive provider of multifamily rental listings for properties with 25 or more units on Redfin, Rent.com, and ApartmentGuide.com. The companies presented the arrangement as expanding listing exposure through the Zillow Rentals Network.
The FTC's September 2025 complaint alleged a different competition effect. It said two February 6 contracts transferred customers and competitively sensitive information, dismantled Redfin's independent rental-advertising operation, and kept Redfin from competing for up to nine years in exchange for at least $100 million. Those are allegations. The filed settlement says Zillow and Redfin do not admit a violation or the truth of the alleged facts.
The correct map therefore does not draw an arrow labeled illegal agreement as an established fact. It records the company-described arrangement, the FTC's allegations, and the proposed remedial obligations as separately typed relationships.
Court entry is the gate, not a filing formality
The filed PDF calls itself a stipulated final order, but its operative page still reads SO ORDERED this ________ day of ________, 2026 above a blank judge line. Its customer-notice appendix also contains placeholders for the entry date. The FTC case page labels the case pending.
That distinction changes every deadline. The six-month Redfin rebuild, one-year employee-transfer assistance, two-year Zillow no-solicit period, 30-day state payment, recurring compliance reports, and ten-year expiration all run from the date the court enters the order. Using August 24 as day zero would manufacture dates the source does not establish.
The order also says its elimination of competitive restraints must occur no later than entry. The parties would have to remove provisions that prevent Redfin from operating independently, amend the content-license agreement, eliminate required disclosure of nonpublic competitively sensitive information, and remove limits on Redfin's own listings and sales.
Reentry requires an operating business, not a relaunch page
Within six months after entry, Redfin would have to meet four public requirements:
- deploy a working portal that lets customers upload listings across Redfin.com, Rent.com, and ApartmentGuide.com, with demonstrated customer use;
- establish a working billing system;
- hire a general manager, a specified sales force, and a sufficiently staffed and trained customer-support team; and
- run targeted advertising to acquire rental-advertising customers.
The exact sales headcount, capital investment, and minimum operating period are in nonpublic appendices. The public record therefore supports testing the four visible capabilities, but not inventing the redacted thresholds.
Redfin may request a good-cause extension with prior FTC approval in consultation with the five plaintiff states. If it misses the deadline, the order specifies payments for up to six months of noncompliance before contempt becomes the enforcement path. A calendar date alone is not proof of failure; the public evidence must also show entry, any approved extension, and the FTC's compliance determination.
The customer clock starts after verified reentry
The nine-month customer option does not start at court entry. It starts when Redfin meets the rebuild requirements. During that window, Zillow must allow an internet listing service customer whose contract cannot be cancelled within three months to exit or renegotiate without cost or penalty in order to deal with Redfin.
The sequence contains another handoff: Redfin submits evidence at least two weeks before the six-month period ends; the FTC, consulting the states, determines whether the requirements are met; the FTC notifies Zillow; and Zillow then has 20 days to send customer notices. MyMap derives that evidence chain by joining the order's linked paragraphs. The order confirms every component, but it does not guarantee a positive determination.
Employees, listings, and reporting keep the rebuild connected
For one year after entry, Zillow would have to help Redfin evaluate and recruit relevant sales, marketing, and customer-service employees. Within five days of Redfin's request, Zillow must provide employee information and private interview access. It must remove specified recruiting impediments, avoid retaliation, and not interfere with Redfin hiring. A separate two-year restriction limits Zillow's targeted solicitation of Redfin employees, subject to stated exceptions.
Zillow must also continue robust syndication of multifamily listings under the amended agreement. This matters because the proposed remedy does not replace Zillow-fed listings with a sealed Redfin-only system. It permits Redfin to compete for its own advertising customers while continuing to receive syndication.
Compliance reporting changes cadence as the system changes state: every 30 days until verified reentry, every 90 days for the next nine months, every 120 days until at least July 1, 2031 or later if syndication continues, plus annual reports until expiration. Reports must contain supporting information rather than conclusory claims.
Confirmed, derived, and still unknown
The controlling sources confirm the filed status, blank entry fields, definitions, proposed duties, clock triggers, reporting cadence, $2 million payment to the plaintiff states, and ten-year term. The complaint confirms what the FTC alleged; it does not confirm liability. The company announcement confirms how Zillow and Redfin described the original partnership.
MyMap derives the three evidence layers, the trigger network, and the sequence from Redfin evidence submission to FTC determination, Zillow notice, and the customer-option window. These joins explain the order; they are not additional legal requirements.
The sources leave unknown whether and when the judge will enter the order, the eventual calendar deadlines, whether an extension will be requested or approved, the redacted staffing and investment thresholds, which employees or customers will move, whether the rebuilt service will win business, and the market effect of the remedy.
Reproducible mapping method and next step
Create one record for each operative paragraph. Store the actor, action, object, trigger, interval, evidence recipient, exception, public or nonpublic threshold, and enforcement consequence. Keep allegations in a separate table. Calculate a date only after attaching an entered order with a signed day-zero value.
For live tracking, start with an Entry evidence slot: signed order, docket date, and case status. Then create separate Reentry capability, FTC determination, Customer notice, Employee transfer, and Reporting records. Teams can adapt those typed gates in a MyMap flowchart; the editable map is a coordination aid, while the docket remains the authority.
The immediate next step is to watch the court docket and FTC case page for an entered order. Until then, label every remedy clock not started. This article is a source-reading aid, not legal advice, a prediction of court action, or a finding about competitive outcomes.