For years many industry participants wondered if allowing their real estate agents or loan officers to engage in co-marketing on Zillow Group applications and websites posed a risk to their companies under RESPA.  The industry may soon know the answer, as Zillow Group advised in recent prepared remarks on first quarter earnings that “Over the past two years, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, or CFPB, has been reviewing our program for compliance with the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, or RESPA, which is a regulation designed to protect consumers.”

To say that the CFPB is not a fan of marketing arrangements between settlement service providers is an understatement.  We previously reported on an October 2015 bulletin in which the CFPB addressed its experiences with such marketing arrangements.  The CFPB stated “In sum, the Bureau’s experience in this area gives rise to grave concerns about the use of [marketing services agreements] in ways that evade the requirements of RESPA.”  The recent announcement by Zillow may cause industry members to assess co-marketing arrangements.

While the Zillow announcement indicates that the CFPB investigation has occurred over the past two years, the apparent reason for the announcement is the disclosure that “Recently, the CFPB requested additional information and documents from us as part of their evaluation, which we are working with them on.”  Zillow also notes that it considers its co-marketing program to be compliant, and that it has continually encouraged consumers to shop around while looking for a mortgage.