Notice2022-17077
Opendoor Labs Inc; Analysis of Proposed Consent Order To Aid Public Comment
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
August 9, 2022
Issuing agencies
Federal Trade Commission
Abstract
The consent agreement in this matter settles alleged violations of federal law prohibiting unfair or deceptive acts or practices. The attached Analysis of Proposed Consent Order To Aid Public Comment describes both the allegations in the draft complaint and the terms of the consent order--embodied in the consent agreement-- that would settle these allegations.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 152 (Tuesday, August 9, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 152 (Tuesday, August 9, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48480-48481]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-17077]
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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
[File No. 192 3191]
Opendoor Labs Inc; Analysis of Proposed Consent Order To Aid
Public Comment
AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission.
ACTION: Proposed consent agreement; request for comment.
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SUMMARY: The consent agreement in this matter settles alleged
violations of federal law prohibiting unfair or deceptive acts or
practices. The attached Analysis of Proposed Consent Order To Aid
Public Comment describes both the allegations in the draft complaint
and the terms of the consent order--embodied in the consent agreement--
that would settle these allegations.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before September 8, 2022.
ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file comments online or on paper by
following the instructions in the Request for Comment part of the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Please write ``Opendoor Labs
Inc.; File No. 192 3191'' on your comment and file your comment online
at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> by following the instructions on the
web-based form. If you prefer to file your comment on paper, mail your
comment to the following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of
the Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite CC-5610 (Annex D),
Washington, DC 20580, or deliver your comment to the following address:
Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, Constitution Center,
400 7th Street SW, 5th Floor, Suite 5610 (Annex D), Washington, DC
20024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Matthew Wilshire (214-979-9362),
Bureau of Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission, 600
Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20580.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to section 6(f) of the Federal
Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and FTC Rule 2.34, 16 CFR 2.34,
notice is hereby given that the above-captioned consent agreement
containing a consent order to cease and desist, having been filed with
and accepted, subject to final approval, by the Commission, has been
placed on the public record for a period of 30 days. The following
Analysis to Aid Public Comment describes the terms of the consent
agreement and the allegations in the complaint. An electronic copy of
the full text of the consent agreement package can be obtained at
<a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/commission-actions">https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/commission-actions</a>.
You can file a comment online or on paper. For the Commission to
consider your comment, we must receive it on or before September 8,
2022. Write ``Opendoor Labs Inc.; File No. 192 3191'' on your comment.
Your comment--including your name and your state--will be placed on the
public record of this proceeding, including, to the extent practicable,
on the <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> website.
Because of heightened security screening, postal mail addressed to
the Commission will be subject to delay. We strongly encourage you to
submit your comments online through the <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>
website.
If you prefer to file your comment on paper, write ``Opendoor Labs
Inc.; File No. 192 3191'' on your comment and on the envelope, and mail
your comment to the following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office
of the Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite CC-5610 (Annex D),
Washington, DC 20580.
Because your comment will be placed on the publicly accessible
website at <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a>, you are solely responsible for
making sure your comment does not include any sensitive or confidential
information. In particular, your comment should not include sensitive
personal information, such as your or anyone else's Social Security
number; date of birth; driver's license number or other state
identification number, or foreign country equivalent; passport number;
financial account number; or credit or debit card number. You are also
solely responsible for making sure your comment does not include
sensitive health information, such as medical records or other
individually identifiable health information. In addition, your comment
should not include any ``trade secret or any commercial or financial
information which . . . is privileged or confidential''--as provided by
Section 6(f) of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and FTC Rule 4.10(a)(2),
16 CFR 4.10(a)(2)--including competitively sensitive information such
as costs, sales statistics, inventories, formulas, patterns, devices,
manufacturing processes, or customer names.
Comments containing material for which confidential treatment is
requested must be filed in paper form, must be clearly labeled
``Confidential,'' and must comply with FTC Rule 4.9(c). In particular,
the written request for confidential treatment that accompanies the
comment must include the factual and legal basis for the request and
must identify the specific portions of the comment to be withheld from
the public record. See FTC Rule 4.9(c). Your comment will be kept
confidential only if the General Counsel grants your request in
accordance with the law and the public interest. Once your comment has
been posted on the <a href="https://www.regulations.gov">https://www.regulations.gov</a> website--as legally
required by FTC Rule 4.9(b)--we cannot redact or remove your comment
from that website, unless you submit a confidentiality request that
meets the requirements for such treatment under FTC Rule 4.9(c), and
the General Counsel grants that request.
Visit the FTC website at <a href="https://www.ftc.gov">https://www.ftc.gov</a> to read this document
and the news release describing the proposed settlement. The FTC Act
and other laws the Commission administers permit the collection of
public comments to consider and use in this proceeding, as appropriate.
The Commission will consider all timely and responsive public comments
that it receives on or before September 8, 2022. For information on the
Commission's privacy policy, including routine uses permitted by the
Privacy Act, see <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/site-information/privacy-policy">https://www.ftc.gov/site-information/privacy-policy</a>.
Analysis of Proposed Consent Order To Aid Public Comment
The Federal Trade Commission (``Commission'') has accepted, subject
to final approval, an agreement containing a consent order from
Opendoor Labs Inc. (``Opendoor'' or ``Respondent''). The proposed
consent order has been placed on the public record for 30 days for
receipt of comments from interested persons. Comments received during
this period will become part of the public
[[Page 48481]]
record. After 30 days, the Commission will again review the agreement
and the comments received and will decide whether it should withdraw
from the agreement and take appropriate action or make final the
agreement's proposed order.
This matter involves Respondent's home-buying service. Respondent
offers to buy consumers' homes directly as an alternative to listing
those homes for sale on the market. In advertisements, on its website,
and in its offers to purchase homes, Respondent has represented that:
(1) its offers reflect Opendoor's best estimate of the home's market
value, with no adjustments to that amount; (2) the costs associated
with a sale to Opendoor are generally lower than costs associated with
traditional sales; and (3) the vast majority of consumers who sell
their homes to Opendoor will make substantially more than if they sold
traditionally.
The complaint alleges that, in fact, Opendoor reduced its offers
below what it believed to be the homes' market value, costs associated
with Opendoor sales were higher than typical costs in a traditional
sale, and most consumers who sold to Opendoor lost thousands of dollars
compared to what they would have made in a traditional sale. The
complaint therefore alleges that Respondent violated Section 5(a) of
the FTC Act by making false and unsubstantiated claims that consumers
were likely to realize more money selling their homes to it than they
would realize in traditional sales, including by misrepresenting that:
(1) Opendoor's offers reflect its unadjusted assessment of a home's
market value; (2) Opendoor does not make money from ``buying low and
selling high''; (3) the costs of repairs it demands a seller make or
pay for would be likely the same as what they would pay in a
traditional sale; and (4) consumers would pay less in costs by selling
to Opendoor than what they would pay in a traditional sale.
The proposed order contains provisions designed to prevent
Respondent from engaging in the same or similar acts or practices in
the future. It applies to the marketing of any ``Real-Estate Service,''
defined as ``any product or service designed to assist a consumer in
selling a home, including Respondent purchasing homes from consumers.''
It does not apply to titling services, which are not relevant to the
allegations in the complaint.
Part I.A of the order prohibits Respondent from misrepresenting:
(1) that consumers will receive more money using a Real Estate Service
than they would using a different good or service; (2) that consumers
will save money; (3) that consumers will receive a price for their
homes equivalent to what they would likely receive by listing their
homes on the market; (4) the amount of repair costs consumers will pay;
(5) that consumers will save money on repair costs; (6) that any offer
to purchase a consumer's home is an accurate and unbiased projection of
that home's market value; and (7) that the person or persons offering
any good or service do not expect to make money from reselling homes.
Part I.B prohibits Respondent from making any representation about
the costs of selling a home traditionally unless the representation is
non-misleading and Respondent has competent and reliable evidence to
substantiate that the representation is true. Part I.C prohibits
Respondent from making any representation about the costs, savings, or
financial benefit of a Real-Estate Service unless the representation is
non-misleading and Respondent has competent and reliable evidence to
substantiate that the representation is true.
Parts II and III require Respondent to pay to the Commission
$62,000,000 and describes the procedures and legal rights related to
that payment. Part IV requires Respondent to provide customer
information to enable the Commission to administer consumer redress.
Part V requires Respondent to submit an acknowledgement of receipt
of the order, and to distribute a copy of the order to: (1) all
principals, officers, directors, and LLC managers and members; (2) all
employees having managerial responsibilities for Real Estate Services;
and (3) any business entity resulting from a change in corporate
governance. It also requires Respondent to obtain acknowledgements from
each individual or entity to which a Respondent has delivered a copy of
the order.
Part VI requires Respondent to file a compliance report with the
Commission and to notify the Commission of bankruptcy filings or
changes in corporate structure that might affect compliance
obligations. Part VII contains recordkeeping requirements for
accounting records, personnel records, and advertising and marketing
materials related to Real-Estate Services, as well as all records
necessary to demonstrate compliance with the order. Part VIII contains
other requirements related to the Commission's monitoring of
Respondent's order compliance. Part IX provides the effective dates of
the order, including that, with exceptions, the order will terminate in
20 years.
The purpose of this analysis is to facilitate public comment on the
order, and it is not intended to constitute an official interpretation
of the complaint or order, or to modify the order's terms in any way.
By direction of the Commission.
Joel Christie,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2022-17077 Filed 8-8-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on August 9, 2022.
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