Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker, Bernie Sanders, Mazie Hirono, and Tina Smith have submitted a letter to both the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Antitrust Division and to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) seeking an explanation for the agencies’ failure to challenge Rocket Companies’ recent acquisition of Redfin.
Rocket announced that it has entered into an agreement to purchase digital real estate brokerage Redfin in an all-stock transaction for a value $1.75 billion of equity value in early March. Founded in 2004, Redfin operates a home search platform with more than one million for-sale and rental listings and a tech-powered brokerage of more than 2,200 agents.
Detroit-based fintech platform Rocket also announced the acquisition of Mr. Cooper Group Inc. in an all-stock transaction for $9.4 billion in equity value in early March. After the acquisition, Rocket’s combined servicing book will be worth a reported $2.1 trillion across nearly 10 million clients, or one in every six mortgages in America.
Of concern to the coalition of Senators is the formation of a massive housing company by Rocket that threatens to reduce choice and raise prices for American families in the housing market.
In the letter to Gail Slater, Assistant Attorney General of the Antitrust Division for the Department of Justice and Andrew N. Ferguson, Chair of the Federal Trade Commission, the Senators state, “Rocket is attempting to acquire two already massive companies to create a single, vertically integrated conglomerate. Rocket’s proposed acquisitions of Redfin and Mr. Cooper create the potential for Rocket to steer homebuyers to its own products, hike prices based on private data, and block competition.”
Seeking Homebuyer Protections
On May 8, 2025, the Trump Administration allowed the merger waiting period to expire without taking action to block or review the transaction. In the letter, the lawmakers asked the two agencies to provide clarity on why they declined to challenge the merger by June 17, 2025.
The letter highlights several barriers the nation’s homebuyers may face considering the merger, including:
- Rocket’s acquisition of Mr. Cooper will create a mortgage giant. 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.
- 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.
- Rocket could use Redfin’s user data to determine if a customer made an offer on a house and whether it was at the bottom or top of the price range of properties the customer viewed online. The Senators feel this information could be leveraged against consumers to manipulate mortgage rates and pricing.
Enforcing Merger Guidelines
Under the DOJ and FTC’s merger enforcement guidelines, the acquisition of Mr. Cooper and Redfin by Rocket raises concerns. The 2023 Merger Guidelines provide a framework for determining whether mergers may violate antitrust laws and lessen competition, including:
- Under Guideline 6, which warns that “mergers can violate the law when they entrench or extend a dominant position.”
- Under Guideline 7, which directs the DOJ and FTC to “examine whether a trend toward consolidation in an industry would heighten … competition concerns.”
- Under Guideline 8, which clarifies that “when a merger is part of a series of multiple acquisitions, the agencies may examine the whole series.”
- Under Guideline 9, which warns that “mergers involving platforms can threaten competition.”
“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,” wrote the senators.
Click here to view the full letter from Sens. Warren, Booker, Sanders, Hirono, and Smith to the FTC and DOJ.
