U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and Tina Smith (D-MN) are demanding the Trump Administration answer their questions after agencies failed to challenge the merger of Rocket Companies and Redfin.
Warren, the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, and Booker, the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy, and Consumer Rights, said the merger would reduce choice and raise housing prices, the senators asked the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Antitrust Division and to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to explain why the agencies allowed the merger waiting period to expire without taking action to block or review the merger. The senators said they feared it would create a real estate giant that would 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,” the senators wrote.
The law makers said once the merger is complete, Rocket will have the power to steer Redfin users to Rocket’s real estate agents, which would limit business for local, independent agents and brokerages. Additionally, Rocket could discourage Redfin users from comparison shopping for better mortgage offers. Additionally, Rocket’s acquisition of Mr. Cooper would create a mortgage finance giant, and would triple Rocket’s current client base, putting it in control of one in every six mortgages in the U.S.
The senators asked the two agencies to explain why they failed to challenge the merger no later than July 17, 2025.