Opendoor Settlement: $62 Million Refunded to Home Sellers

Who qualifies

• The FTC paid people who sold their home to Opendoor before August 1, 2022 — the date the settlement order was announced. Recipients were identified from records; there was never an application, a deadline, or a proof requirement.
• Only sellers were covered. Buying a home from Opendoor was not part of this case.
• Payment amounts were individual, reflecting the FTC's assessment of each transaction rather than a flat figure, which is why the average of about $1,133 is an average and not the amount anyone was promised.
• Homeowners who sold to Opendoor after August 1, 2022 were not included — by then the order barring the conduct was in place.
• Checks had to be cashed within 90 days as printed on the check. That window closed in 2024, and there is no reissue process announced.
• If you sold before August 1, 2022 and believe you were missed, the administrator can confirm whether a payment was issued in your name; there is nothing to file.

The Opendoor settlement — what happened

1. 1

   What Opendoor promised sellers

   Opendoor operated an online real estate business that buys homes directly from consumers as an alternative to listing on the open market. Advertised as an "iBuyer," it claimed to use cutting-edge technology to save sellers money by making "market-value" offers and reducing transaction costs compared with a traditional sale.

2. 2

   The marketing charts at the centre of the case

   Opendoor's marketing materials included charts comparing a seller's net proceeds from selling to Opendoor against selling on the market. According to the FTC's complaint, those charts almost always showed consumers making thousands of dollars more by selling to Opendoor. The FTC alleged the opposite was true for the vast majority of sellers, because Opendoor's offers were below market value on average and its costs were higher than what sellers typically pay when using a traditional realtor.

3. 3

   The four specific misrepresentations the FTC found

   The FTC alleged Opendoor misrepresented that it used projected market value prices when making offers, when those prices in fact included downward adjustments to market value; that it made its money from disclosed fees, when in reality it made money by buying low and selling high; that sellers would likely pay the same in repair costs either way; and that sellers would likely pay less in costs by selling to Opendoor than in a traditional sale.

4. 4

   August 1, 2022 — the FTC acts, and the cutoff date is set

   The FTC announced a proposed administrative order requiring Opendoor to pay $62 million, expected to be used for consumer redress, and to stop the deceptive tactics. The Commission vote to accept the consent agreement was 5-0. This date matters to consumers for a practical reason: it became the eligibility cutoff, because it is when the conduct stopped.

5. 5

   October 2022 — the order is finalized

   After the standard 30-day public comment period, the Commission approved the final order. It bars Opendoor from making deceptive, false, and unsubstantiated claims about how much money sellers will receive or the costs of using its service, and requires competent and reliable evidence for any claim it makes about costs, savings, or financial benefits — including claims about what a traditional home sale costs.

6. 6

   April 2024 — nearly the entire fund is paid out

   The FTC mailed nearly $62 million to 54,689 consumers, an average of about $1,133 each. Because this was paid from records rather than claims, essentially the whole judgment reached sellers rather than a fraction of it — a contrast with claim-based programs, where most eligible people never file.

7. 7

   This is not the real estate commission settlement

   People searching for a real estate settlement often land on the wrong case. The Opendoor settlement is an FTC action about Opendoor's own offers to sellers. The separate broker-commission settlements — including the National Association of Realtors agreement — are private antitrust class actions about how sales commissions were set across the industry, with a different fund, a different class, and a claim process of their own.

8. 8

   If you sold to Opendoor and never got a check

   Call Epiq Systems at 1-888-546-2054 and ask whether a payment was issued in your name. There is no claim form and no late filing. The FTC never asks you to pay a fee or provide bank account or Social Security numbers to release a refund — any message that does is a scam.

Frequently asked questions

Sources and official records

Every figure and date on this page was taken from the primary records below — court dockets, agency releases, and the settlement administrator's own notices. Payout averages we describe as averages are calculated from the official totals, not reported per-person estimates.

• FTC — Opendoor Refunds page (54,689 homeowners, nearly $62 million, April 2024)
• FTC press release — the August 2022 action, the marketing charts, and the four misrepresentations
• FTC press release — April 2024 distribution of nearly $62 million to 54,689 sellers
• FTC press release — final order approved, October 2022
• FTC case record — In the Matter of Opendoor Labs Inc., File No. 1923191