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FTC slams Opendoor with $62M settlement over false advertising claims



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Opendoor has agreed to pay $62 million to settle charges by the Federal Trade Commission, which says the company’s claims that it helps people make more money by selling their house to the company rather than listing it on the open market were deceptive.
For years, the real estate technology company has touted itself as using its pricing technology to provide “more accurate offers and lower costs,” said the FTC. Such “iBuyers” use this method to make quick offers on homes, with enthusiastic claims that sellers would make thousands of dollars more than they would on the open market.
But according to the FTC, that wasn’t true.
The commission alleges that not only were Opendoor’s offers lower than a home’s market value, but also that the company actually asked sellers to fork out more for home repair costs “that were higher than what people would typically spend on repairs in a market sale.”
The FTC says it will use the $62 million settlement to provide refunds to people who were affected …

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