Lawmakers: “At a time when families already face a housing affordability crisis, these deals…may reduce choice and raise prices for American families in the housing market.”
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) joined Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and Tina Smith (D-MN) in sending a letter to the Department of Justice (DOJ) Assistant Attorney General of the Antitrust Division Gail Slater and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Andrew Ferguson, seeking an explanation for the agencies’ failure to challenge Rocket Companies’ (Rocket) recent acquisition of Redfin, which creates a massive housing company that threatens to reduce choice and raise prices for American families in the housing market.
“At a time when families already face a housing affordability crisis, these deals would combine the second-largest mortgage originator, the largest mortgage servicer, and the third-most-visited real estate brokerage website in the United States, into a massive, vertically integrated conglomerate that may reduce choice and raise prices for American families in the housing market,” the lawmakers wrote.
This merger allows Rocket, an online mortgage lending and real estate platform, to exert even greater control over each step of the homebuying process by taking over Redfin, a popular real estate search platform, and Mr. Cooper, the nation’s largest mortgage servicing firm. On May 8, 2025, the Trump Administration allowed the merger waiting period to expire without taking action to block or review the transaction.
After the Rocket-Redfin merger is completed, Rocket will have the power to steer Redfin users to Rocket’s real estate agents, limiting business for local, independent agents and brokerages. Rocket could also discourage Redfin users from comparison shopping for better mortgage offers by steering homebuyers to Rocket’s mortgages. Comparison shopping has been shown to save homebuyers an average of $76,410 over a 30-year mortgage.
“Rocket’s acquisition of Redfin and its data gives Rocket a degree of power against its customers that rival mortgage lenders will not have, and gives Rocket a leg up on competitors, harming consumer choice and competition in the mortgage industry,” continued the senators.
In addition, Rocket’s acquisition of Mr. Cooper will create a mortgage finance behemoth. By acquiring seven million mortgage servicing clients, Rocket would have a reduced need to compete for new customers. Altogether, with these acquisitions, Rocket would triple its current client base and control one in six mortgages in the United States. Rocket’s efforts to consolidate and control the homebuying market onto a single online platform sets a dangerous precedent for consumers, the industry, and the U.S. housing market as a whole at a time when house prices and mortgage rates continue to rise.
Rocket has a history of anticompetitive efforts to steer homebuyers to its products. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) sued Rocket in 2024 for allegedly steering homebuyers into purchasing Rocket mortgages and charging higher rates and fees. The CFPB dropped the lawsuit just three weeks after President Trump installed new leadership at the agency.
Under the DOJ and FTC’s merger enforcement guidelines, the acquisitions raise multiple concerns, including:
“Rocket’s proposed acquisitions…create the potential for Rocket to steer homebuyers to its own products, hike prices based on private data, and block competition. We ask that you provide an explanation for your agencies’ failure to challenge the Rocket-Redfin merger during the premerger review period,” concluded the senators.
The lawmakers asked the two agencies to provide clarity on why they declined to challenge the merger by June 17, 2025.
The full text of the letter is available here.
###