Real estate settlement: Who is eligible for refund of $1,024?

The Federal Trade Commission is sending refunds to more than 50,000 home sellers who used an online real estate company.

The refunds are part of an agreement with Opendoor Labs Inc., operator of OpenDoor online home buying firm. In all, some $61.75 million will go to 54,689 recipients with a median refund of $1,024. There are 394 eligible recipients in Alabama, with a median refund of $980.

According to the FTC complaint, Arizona-based Opendoor cheated home sellers by tricking them into thinking they could make more money selling their home via its site than on the open market using a traditional sales process. Opendoor also falsely claimed they saved customers on costs, the FTC said.

In reality, most people who sold to Opendoor made thousands of dollars less than they would have made selling their homes using the traditional process and many paid more in costs than what sellers typically pay, the FTC said.

“Opendoor promised to revolutionize the real estate market but built its business using old-fashioned deception about how much consumers could earn from selling their homes on the platform,” Samuel Levine, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection said when announcing the order in 2022. “There is nothing innovative about cheating consumers.”

Under the administrative order, Opendoor agreed to pay the refunds and stop any deceptive tactics.

Recipients of the checks should cash them within 90 days. Consumers who have questions about their payment should contact the refund administrator, Epiq Systems, at 1-888-546-2054 or visit the FTC website to view frequently asked questions about the refund process.