The Federal Trade Commission Makes "Opendoor" Pay $62 million back to sellers if purchased from

The Federal Trade Commission Makes Opendoor Pay $62 million

FTC has started sending checks to 54,689 people. Each individual will end up with $1,024 in their pocket.

Opendoor has been asked to refund a total of $62 million to 54,689 home sellers as a part of its settement with the FTC.

The settlement was announced on April 3rd and the FTC said it would start sending out checks on the same day. Every recipient should get around $1,024, according to Inman.

Housing Market Prediction: Opendoor will be BANKRUPT in 24 Months!

Allegations Against Opendoor

Opendoor has been facing heat over its marketing. The primary allegations mentioned in the FTC press release are:

Opendoor mislead home sellers by making them believe they could sell their home on Opendoor for a higher price than on the open market.
FTC found that home sellers on Opendoor ended by selling their properties for a few thousand dollars less than what they would've gotten on the open market.
Opendoor made offers based on Projected Market Value and this price includes downward adjustments.
Opendoor claimed it made money from clearly disclosed fees. FTC found that Opendoor made profit by ‘buying low and sell high.’

Samuel Levine, Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection at FTC, said, “Opendoor promised to revolutionize the real estate market but built its business using old-fashioned deception about how much consumers could earn from selling their homes on the platform.”

Actions Required

Opendoor agreed to the settlement terms. The FTC asked the iBuyer to:

Pay $62 million, which will be paid towards home sellers impacted by Opendoor.
Opendoor can no longer make any unsubstantiated, deceptive, or false claims through its marketing materials.
Opendoor must be clear about the money home sellers will recieve and what they will have to pay for Opendoor's services.
The iBuyer must back its claims of financial benefits with facts and reliable evidence.

Opendoor has accepted the settlement but still strongly disagrees with the allegations. Opendoor also clarified that the case was with regards to the company's activities between 2017 and 2019.

Opendoor has modified its marketing messages since then.

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