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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION | OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY | FILED 8/4/2022 | Document No. 605238 | PAGE Page 1 of 178 * PUBLIC *; 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 

BEFORE THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION 

OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGES 

PUBLIC

In the Matter of 

HOMEADVISOR, INC., a corporation, 

d/b/a ANGI LEADS, 

d/b/a HOMEADVISOR POWERED BY ANGI. DOCKET NO. 9407 

COMPLAINT COUNSEL’S MOTION TO COMPEL RESPONDENT TO COMPLY 

WITH COMPLAINT COUNSEL’S REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION OF DOCUMENTS 

Pursuant to Rules of Practice 3.37 and 3.38, 16 C.F.R. §§ 3.37-3.38, Complaint Counsel 

moves for an order compelling Respondent HomeAdvisor, Inc. (“HomeAdvisor”) to comply 

with Complaint Counsel’s Request for Production of Documents, initially served on June 8, 

2022. The parties have repeatedly met and conferred regarding this dispute and have reached an 

impasse. For the reasons stated herein, Respondent should be compelled to produce the requested 

documents and/or sanctioned. 

BACKGROUND 

On June 8, 2022, Complaint Counsel served Respondent with Complaint Counsel’s 

Second Set of Requests for Production of Documents (the “Requests”), containing three requests 

numbered 14-16. Declaration of Colin D. A. MacDonald (“MacDonald Decl.”), Exh. A. 

Request 14 sought production of all recordings of HomeAdvisor’s sales calls from a specified 

six-month period, while Requests 15 and 16 sought additional documents related to those 

recordings. Id. at 3. In particular, Request 16 asked for any quality assurance documents related 

to call recordings, id., which only exist for the subset of call recordings subjected to the quality 

assurance process, Respondent’s Statement of Material Facts for Which There is a Genuine Issue 

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for Trial (“Respondent’s SMF”), attached to Respondent’s Opposition to Complaint Counsel’s 

Motion for Summary Decision, at 200-01. 

Complaint Counsel’s Requests followed arguments by Respondent dismissing a 

previously produced call sample. Prior to litigation, the Commission issued a Civil Investigative 

Demand (“the CID”), that requested, among other things “[a] representative sample, to be agreed 

upon by Commission Counsel and [HomeAdvisor] following a meet and confer, of 

communications, between You and service providers, including telephone recordings . . . .” 

MacDonald Decl., Exh. C at 10. Though HomeAdvisor produced 1,710 call recordings in 

response to the CID, when Complaint Counsel introduced the content of those recordings in 

support of its Motion for Summary Decision (“SD Motion”), Respondent asserted that the 

selected recordings are not representative. See Respondent’s SMF at 186-87. In particular, during 

the recent oral argument on the SD Motion, Respondent repeatedly relied on this argument. 

MacDonald Decl., Exh. D, e.g., at 35, 58-59, . 

On July 8, 2022, Respondent served Complaint Counsel with its Responses and 

Objections (the “Responses”) to the Requests, objecting that the requested recordings were 

“unreasonably cumulative and duplicative of those HomeAdvisor already produced in 

connection with the FTC’s Civil Investigative Demands” in the investigation related to this 

matter and that the Requests were therefore “unduly burdensome and not proportional.” Id., Exh. 

B at 2-3. Respondent further stated that “[s]ubject to these objections, HomeAdvisor will make 

reasonable, good-faith efforts to locate and produce additional sales call recordings that took 

place during the specified time period.” Id. 

Since then, the parties have held three conferences to discuss what, if any, documents 

will be produced, with the most recent occurring on July 29, 2022. See accompanying Statement 

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Regarding Meet and Confers. During that meeting, Respondent informed Complaint Counsel 

that it intended to produce approximately 5,000-6,000 sales calls from the specified time period 

for which it had quality assurance documents – in other words, unilaterally limiting Request 14 

to the scope of Request 16. Respondent’s Counsel asked whether Complaint Counsel would view 

this as a sufficient production in response to Request 14. Complaint Counsel responded that it 

would not, because it would exclude any extant recordings responsive to Request 14 for which 

documents responsive to Request 16 do not exist. During the call, and in a letter sent afterward, 

Complaint Counsel proposed to accept those recordings as sufficient if HomeAdvisor made 

certain stipulations and representations regarding them, such that they could be treated as 

representative. MacDonald Decl., Exh. G at 2.

1

 Respondent declined to do so. Id. at Exh. H at 2-

3. Respondent’s Counsel likewise declined to identify what efforts had been undertaken to locate 

responsive recordings and cited attorney-client privilege when asked to articulate why any such 

efforts were purportedly proving burdensome to Respondent. Id., Ex. F at 1. 

ARGUMENT 

“Parties may obtain discovery to the extent that it may be reasonably expected to yield 

information relevant [. . .] to the defenses of any respondent.” 16 C.F.R. § 3.31(c)(1). “Parties 

resisting discovery of relevant information carry a heavy burden of showing why discovery 

should be denied.” In re Matter of LabMD, Inc., No. 9357, 2014 WL 333621, at *1 (Jan. 10, 

2014) (quoting In re Daniel Chapter One, 2009 WL 569694, at *2 (Jan. 9, 2009)). Respondent’s 

refusal to produce the requested recordings is plainly unreasonable and unsupported by law. 

Indeed, it is HomeAdvisor whose litigation positions necessitate the request: Respondent 

repeatedly insists that it cannot be held liable for misrepresentations in its sales calls unless 

1 The proposed representations and stipulations would establish that the calls could be treated as representative of all 

calls during the relevant period. 

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Complaint Counsel shows that the calls cited are “representative” of all of its sales calls. See 

Respondent’s SMF at 186-87; MacDonald Decl., Exh. D, e.g., at 35, 58-59, . When 

asked why it had not produced the materials yet, Respondent took the position that such 

information on its burden was itself privileged. MacDonald Decl., Exh. F at 1. Neither the Court 

nor Complaint Counsel need accept such absurd and unsupported positions. 

1. The Requested Documents Are Plainly Relevant to the Claims and Defenses at Issue 

This case involves three counts alleging that HomeAdvisor misrepresented its products in 

its advertising and sales calls. See Complaint at 14-15. The first element of any deception claim 

is that the challenged representation was made to consumers. In re POM Wonderful, LLC, 155 

F.T.C. 1, 10 (2013). 

Respondent’s SMF at 185. Thus, the contents of sales calls are vital to understanding what 

claims HomeAdvisor made to service providers. 

Complaint Counsel has endeavored to show the contents of those calls through evidence 

already in its possession—through both copies of scripts and transcripts of actual sales calls. See 

generally SD Motion. In response, 

See, 

e.g., Respondent’s SMF at 186-87.2 Moreover, in response to a randomly selected sample of 100 

calls taken from the 1,710 produced in response to the CID, HomeAdvisor’s own expert asserted 

it is unclear whether the 1,710 calls are representative. See, e.g., id. at PDF pages 2522-23 

(RX0063 at 3-4). If HomeAdvisor asserts the representativeness of the sample is relevant to its 

2 HomeAdvisor cites no authority for the premise that the Court should assume sales agents never made claims in 

scripts provided by the respondent to its employees, the majority of which can also be found in the company’s 

national advertising. 

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probative value, and disputes that the 1,710 calls are representative, then Complaint Counsel 

must be permitted to obtain an additional selection of sales calls. 

2. HomeAdvisor Has Never Produced Comparable Materials nor Articulated How the 

Requests Are Burdensome 

In its Responses, HomeAdvisor asserts that the requested production would be 

“unreasonably cumulative or duplicative” of its production in response to the CID, but this is 

contradicted by the record. Although the CID sought a representative sample of sales calls, 

Respondent itself denies it actually produced one. Indeed, HomeAdvisor submitted an entire 

expert report in response to the SD Motion to buttress its argument that the calls previously 

produced were not representative. Respondent’s SMF at 2522-23 (RX0063 at 3-4). Thus, the 

1,710 recordings previously produced cannot both be as unrepresentative as HomeAdvisor 

claims and yet also “cumulative or duplicative” of documents now sought in discovery. 

As to burden, even after three conferrals with Respondent, Complaint Counsel can only 

guess what the alleged burden to Respondent in making a full production is. It is Respondent’s 

burden to explain how the request is burdensome, rather than relying on boilerplate objections. 

LabMD, 2014 WL 333621, at *1; cf. Bonanno v. Quizno’s Franchise Co., LLC, 255 F.R.D. 550, 

552-53 (D. Colo. 2009) (Mix, M.J.) (applying the analogous standard of Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(b)). 

When Complaint Counsel sought an explanation for why production was too burdensome to be 

made, MacDonald Decl., Exh. E, even weeks after the deadline under the rules, Respondent cited 

attorney-client privilege over its efforts to identify and produce responsive documents, id., Exh. 

F at 1. Respondent has so far only identified recordings that are associated with quality assurance 

reviews, and neither the Court nor Complaint Counsel should be expected to rely on its bald 

assertion that requiring it to look elsewhere would be overly burdensome. 

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3. The Need for the Recordings Vastly Outweighs Any Burden to Respondent 

Regardless of any burden that the Requests might pose to Respondent, the need for the 

recordings far outweighs the expense. Where evidence sought is vital to the central claims or 

defenses of a case, even a significant burden will not suffice to avoid production. Cf. Manning v. 

General Motors, 247 F.R.D. 646, 654 (D. Kan. 2007) (“Thus, even if the production of 

documents would cause great labor and expense or even considerable hardship and the 

possibility of injury to its business, Defendant would still be required to establish that the 

hardship would be undue and disproportionate to the benefits Plaintiff would gain from the 

document production.”). HomeAdvisor chose to assert that Complaint Counsel must present a 

“representative” sample to prove its claims, and disputed the representativeness of Complaint 

Counsel’s existing sample. Now, when Complaint Counsel seeks to do what the company 

demands and obtain the recordings to construct a “representative” sample, Respondent claims 

such production would be unduly burdensome. 

Furthermore, Complaint Counsel proposed to accept exactly what Respondent wishes to 

produce as a sufficient production, so long as HomeAdvisor: (1) “represents that the [r]ecordings 

consist of all extant recorded calls from its internal Quality Assurance process from the period of 

May 1, 2019 through October 31, 2019 for which quality assurance forms exist;” (2) “represents 

that no retention or deletion policy or procedures have resulted in any particular category of 

recorded call being omitted from the [r]ecordings;” and (3) stipulates that the [r]ecordings are 

representative of all sales calls from the period of May 1, 2019 through October 31, 2019.” 

MacDonald Decl., Exh. G at 2. HomeAdvisor declined to do so. Id., Exh. H. at 2-3. 

Respondent suggests that it would prefer to produce records from a more recent period, 

arguing that conduct from 2019 is not relevant to this action for prospective relief. Id., Exh. H at 

2. But HomeAdvisor cannot simply escape liability for its past unlawful conduct by substituting 

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evidence regarding conduct entirely after it knew it was the subject of an FTC investigation. 

Respondent does not get to select the evidence against it. That a lawbreaker may clean up its act 

while under investigation is simply not dispositive as to whether it will resume its deception 

when the enforcer must turn its focus elsewhere. See In re McWane, Inc., 2014 WL 556261, at 

*39 (Jan. 30, 2014) (“[T]he Commission may issue a cease and desist order even when a 

respondent no longer engages in the illegal conduct if there is sufficient danger of recurrence.”), 

accord FTC v. Affordable Media, LLC, 179 F.3d 1228, 1237 (9th Cir. 1999). Accepting 

HomeAdvisor’s efforts to limit its production to a self-selected period after it received the CID 

would only incentivize respondents to drag out investigations and/or pause illicit activity just 

long enough to generate the favorable evidence necessary to escape liability. 

Simply put, HomeAdvisor cannot have it both ways: it must either produce the recordings 

or abandon its position that makes them relevant in the first place. This is all the more true 

where, as here, Complaint Counsel has offered Respondent a path to easing its own alleged 

burden. MacDonald Decl., Exh. G. If Respondent could deny Complaint Counsel the ability to 

obtain the records it needs to draw a representative sample, and Respondent could 

simultaneously deny liability based on the purported unrepresentativeness of calls reviewed, this 

entire proceeding would descend into farce. 

4. This Matter Is Ripe for Adjudication 

The parties have reached an impasse, despite Respondent’s transparent efforts to avoid 

one by endlessly promising future updates. MacDonald Decl., Exh. G. HomeAdvisor was 

obligated to produce responsive documents on July 8, 2022. Id., Exh. A; 16 C.F.R. § 3.37(b). It 

has delayed those productions, forcing repeated conferences while producing nothing, and now 

claims Complaint Counsel is “unilaterally declar[ing] an impasse.” Id., Exh. H at 3. Despite 

Respondent’s “optimistic” promise to “conclude [its] investigation” and “provide Complaint 

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Counsel with further information” on August 5, it has made clear it does not intend to produce 

the full scope of recordings sought, making plain in its conferrals that HomeAdvisor will 

unilaterally limit its production due to unspecified claims of burden. Id. Further, it has rejected 

Complaint Counsel’s proposal that it make stipulations and representations necessary to treat its 

proposed production as a representative population. Id. Neither the Court nor Complaint Counsel 

need Respondent’s permission to observe the obvious: HomeAdvisor has not complied with the 

Requests despite their obvious relevance outweighing whatever burden production might pose to 

Respondent. 

5. Production Should Be Compelled or Alternative Sanctions Should Be Ordered 

HomeAdvisor has already had almost double the time permitted by the Rules of Practice 

to gather responsive materials and produce them—to say nothing of the three years it has known 

of the Commission’s interest in a representative sample of calls. Given upcoming expert 

discovery deadlines, Respondent should be ordered to make production immediately, and 

certainly no later than August 23, 2022. As a backstop, if Respondent fails to produce the 

recordings, the Court should order sanctions that would prevent it from capitalizing on its own 

obstructionism. Pursuant to Rule 3.38(b)(2)-(3), the Court should order that, should Respondent 

fail to produce the requested recordings, the sample of 100 calls submitted in support of 

Complaint Counsel’s SD Motion be treated as representative of all of Respondent’s sales calls. 

Additionally, pursuant to Rule 3.38(b)(4), Respondent should be prohibited from introducing 

evidence—including the testimony of experts—arguing that the sample of calls introduced by 

Complaint Counsel is not representative of all of Respondent’s sales calls. 

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CONCLUSION 

For the reasons stated herein, Complaint Counsel moves that the Court issue the Proposed 

Order attached hereto. 

Respectfully submitted, 

Dated: August 4, 2022 s/ Colin D. A. MacDonald 

Sophia H. Calderón 

Colin D. A. MacDonald 

Breena M. Roos 

M. Elizabeth Howe 

Federal Trade Commission 

Northwest Region 

915 Second Ave., Suite 2896 

Seattle, WA 98174 

Tel.: (206) 220-6350 

Fax: (206) 220-6366 

Email: scalderon@ftc.gov 

cmacdonald@ftc.gov 

broos@ftc.gov 

mhowe@ftc.gov 

Counsel Supporting the Complaint 

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 

BEFORE THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION 

OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGES 

In the Matter of 

HOMEADVISOR, INC., a corporation, 

d/b/a ANGI LEADS, 

d/b/a HOMEADVISOR POWERED BY ANGI. DOCKET NO. 9407 

STATEMENT REGARDING MEET AND CONFERS 

Pursuant to Paragraph 4 of the Scheduling Order issued in this matter, Complaint Counsel 

submits this Statement regarding its conferences with Respondent’s Counsel regarding the 

Requests for Production which form the basis of its contemporaneously filed motion: 

On July 13, 2022 at 12:00pm Pacific Time, Complaint Counsel Breena M. Roos and 

Colin D. A. MacDonald met via Zoom call with Respondent’s Counsel Neil T. Phillips and 

Kathryn D. Bonacorsi. During this call, Complaint Counsel requested information on when a 

production would be forthcoming or when Respondent would identify the full scope of its 

intended production, and Respondent’s Counsel declined to provide this information. 

On July 20, 2022 at 9:00am Pacific Time, Complaint Counsel Breena M. Roos, M. 

Elizabeth Howe, and Katharine F. Barach met via Zoom call with Respondent’s Counsel Neil T. 

Phillips and Kathryn D. Bonacorsi. During this call, Complaint Counsel again requested 

information on when a production would be forthcoming or when Respondent would identify the 

full scope of its intended production, and Respondent’s Counsel declined to provide this 

information. 

On July 29, 2022 at 9:30am Pacific Time, Complaint Counsel Colin D. A. MacDonald, 

M. Elizabeth Howe, and Sophia H. Calderón met via Zoom call with Respondent’s Counsel Neil 

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T. Phillips and George T. Phillips. During this call, Complaint Counsel again requested 

information on when a production would be forthcoming, and Respondent indicated that it 

intended to produce approximately 5,000-6,000 calls for which associated quality assurance 

forms exist and hoped to do so the following week, but did not commit to a particular date and 

did not commit to producing all recordings that exist for the requested period. 

Respectfully submitted, 

Dated: August 4, 2022 s/ Colin D. A. MacDonald 

Sophia H. Calderón 

Colin D. A. MacDonald 

Breena M. Roos 

M. Elizabeth Howe 

Federal Trade Commission 

Northwest Region 

915 Second Ave., Suite 2896 

Seattle, WA 98174 

Tel.: (206) 220-6350 

Fax: (206) 220-6366 

Email: scalderon@ftc.gov 

cmacdonald@ftc.gov 

broos@ftc.gov 

mhowe@ftc.gov 

Counsel Supporting the Complaint 

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 

BEFORE THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION 

OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGES 

In the Matter of 

HOMEADVISOR, INC., a corporation, 

d/b/a ANGI LEADS, 

d/b/a HOMEADVISOR POWERED BY ANGI. DOCKET NO. 9407 

[PROPOSED] ORDER TO COMPEL RESPONDENT TO COMPLY WITH 

COMPLAINT COUNSEL’S REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION OF DOCUMENTS 

Pursuant to Rules of Practice 3.37 and 3.38, 16 C.F.R. §§ 3.37-3.38, Complaint Counsel’s 

Motion to Compel Respondent to Comply with Complaint Counsel’s Request for Production of 

Documents is GRANTED and it is hereby: 

ORDERED that Respondent shall comply with Complaint Counsel’s Request for 

Production 14 in full within five days of entry of this Order; and 

Further ORDERED that if Respondent does not comply with Complaint Counsel’s 

Request for Production 14 in full within five days of entry of this Order, the sample of 100 calls 

transcribed and attached to Complaint Counsel’s Motion for Summary Decision as attachments 

to PX0022 shall be treated as representative of all sales calls made by Respondent during the 

time period relevant to this litigation. 

SO ORDERED. 

Dated: 

D. Michael Chappell 

Chief Administrative Law Judge 
 

 

 

 

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 

BEFORE THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION 

OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGES 

In the Matter of 

HOMEADVISOR, INC., a corporation, 

d/b/a ANGI LEADS, 

d/b/a HOMEADVISOR POWERED BY ANGI. DOCKET NO. 9407 

DECLARATION OF COLIN D. A. MACDONALD 

My name is Colin D. A. MacDonald, I am over eighteen years of age, and I am a citizen 

of the United States. I have personal knowledge of the information contained herein. If called as 

a witness, I could and would testify as follows: 

1. I am an attorney licensed to practice law in Washington, Oregon, and Maryland; and am 

Complaint Counsel in the above-captioned matter. 

2. Complaint Counsel’s Second Set of Requests for Production of Documents were served 

by Complaint Counsel on Respondent’s Counsel on June 8, 2022, and are attached hereto 

as Exhibit A. 

3. HomeAdvisor, Inc.’s Responses and Objections to Complaint Counsel’s Second Set of 

Requests for Production were served by Respondent’s Counsel on Complaint Counsel on 

July 8, 2022, and are attached hereto as Exhibit B. 

4. The Commission’s Civil Investigative Demand to HomeAdvisor, Inc. was issued on July 

3, 2019, and is attached hereto as Exhibit C. 

5. On July 21, 2022, the Commission held oral argument on Complaint Counsel’s Motion 

for Summary Decision, a transcript of which is attached hereto as Exhibit D. 

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6. Complaint Counsel sent a letter to Respondent’s Counsel on July 22, 2022 seeking 

information regarding why responsive documents had not yet been produced, which is 

attached hereto as Exhibit E. 

7. Respondent’s Counsel sent a letter to Complaint Counsel on July 28, 2022 asserting 

privilege regarding the steps it had taken to comply with the Requests for Production, 

which is attached hereto as Exhibit F. 

8. Complaint Counsel sent a letter to Respondent’s Counsel on July 29, 2022, proposing 

particular circumstances in which it would accept Respondent’s production of 5,000-

6,000 calls as sufficient, and which is attached hereto as Exhibit G. 

9. Respondent sent a letter to Complaint Counsel on August 2, 2022 rejecting that proposal, 

and which is attached hereto as Exhibit H. 

Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1746, I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true 

and correct. 

Executed on August 4, 2022. s/ Colin D. A. MacDonald 

Colin D. A. MacDonald 

Counsel Supporting the Complaint 

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EXHIBIT A 
 

 

 

 

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 

BEFORE THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION 

In the Matter of 

HOMEADVISOR, INC., a corporation, 

d/b/a ANGI LEADS, 

d/b/a HOMEADVISOR POWERED BY ANGI. DOCKET NO. 9407 

COMPLAINT COUNSEL’S SECOND SET OF 

REQUESTS FOR PRODUCTION OF DOCUMENTS 

Pursuant to the Federal Trade Commission’s Rules of Practice, 16 C.F.R. § 3.37(a), 

Complaint Counsel hereby requests that Respondent HomeAdvisor, Inc. produce all documents, 

electronically stored information, and other things in its possession, custody, or control 

responsive to the following requests within 30 days via electronic mail, or at such time and place 

as may be agreed upon by all counsel. 

I. DEFINITIONS 

Notwithstanding any definition below, each word, term, or phrase used in this Schedule is 

intended to have the broadest meaning permitted under the Federal Trade Commission’s Rules of 

Practice. 

1. “And” and “or” shall be construed either disjunctively or conjunctively as necessary to 

bring within the scope of the request any information that might otherwise be construed 

to be outside its scope. 

2. “Any” shall be construed to include “all,” and “all” shall be construed to include the word 

“any.” 

3. “Each” shall be construed to include “every,” and “every” shall be construed to include 

“each.” 

4. “Includes” or “including” means “including, but not limited to,” so as to avoid excluding 

any information that might otherwise be construed to be within the scope of any request 

for information. 

5. “Relating to” or “related to” means discussing, describing, reflecting, referring, 

containing, analyzing, studying, reporting, commenting, evidencing, constituting, setting 

forth, considering, recommending, concerning, or pertaining to, in whole or in part. 

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6. “Lead” means any set of information sold or otherwise provided by You to a Service 

Provider about a Person (i) who has expressed an interest in, or has visited a website 

related to, home services, or (ii) who has been identified as a potential customer for home 

services. 

7. “Person” means any natural person, corporation, partnership, or other business 

association and any other legal entity, including all members, officers, predecessors, 

assigns, divisions, affiliates, and subsidiaries. 

8. “Service Provider” means a Person who sells home services and has purchased a 

membership and/or Leads from You. 

9. “You,” “Your,” or “Yourself” means HomeAdvisor, Inc., also doing business as Angi 

Leads, also doing business as HomeAdvisor Powered by Angi, or any agent, employee, 

officer, or representative thereof. 

10. “Voice Log Process” means the process that is described in paragraphs 4 and 5 of the 

Declaration of Michael Metzger, RX0095 to Respondent HomeAdvisor, Inc.’s 

Memorandum of Law in Opposition to Complaint Counsel’s Motion for Summary 

Decision. 

11. The use of the singular includes the plural, and the plural includes the singular. 

12. The use of a verb in any tense shall be construed as the use of the verb in all other tenses. 

13. The spelling of a name shall be construed to include all similar variants thereof. 

II. INSTRUCTIONS 

1. All documents produced in response to these requests shall be clearly and precisely 

identified as to the Request(s) to which they are responsive. Documents that may be 

responsive to more than one Request need not be submitted more than once; however, 

Your response shall indicate, for each document submitted, all Requests to which the 

documents are responsive. 

2. A complete copy of each document should be submitted even if only a portion of the 

document is within the terms of the document Request. The document shall not be edited, 

cut, or expunged and shall include all covering letters and memoranda, transmittal slips, 

appendices, tables, or other attachments. 

3. Each page submitted should be marked with a unique “Bates” document tracking 

number. 

4. Documents covered by these specifications are those that are in Your possession or under 

Your actual or constructive custody or control, whether or not such documents were 

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received from or disseminated to any other Person or entity including attorneys, 

accountants, directors, officers, employees, independent contractors, and volunteers. 

5. If any requested material is withheld based on a claim of privilege, submit, together with 

such claim, a schedule of items withheld that states individually for each item withheld: 

(a) the type, title, specific subject matter, and date of the item; (b) the names, addresses, 

positions, and organizations of all authors and recipients of the item; and (c) the specific 

grounds for claiming that item as privileged. If only part of a responsive document is 

privileged, all non-privileged portions of the document must be submitted. 

6. The document Requests are continuing in character so as to require You to produce 

additional information promptly upon obtaining or discovering different, new, or further 

information before the close of discovery as set forth in the Scheduling Order in this 

matter. 

7. You are hereby advised that Complaint Counsel will move, if any party files any 

dispositive motion, or at the commencement of trial, to preclude You from presenting 

evidence regarding responsive matters You have failed to set forth in Your answers to 

these document Requests. 

III. REQUESTS FOR PRODUCTION 

Demand is hereby made of Respondent HomeAdvisor, Inc. for the following 

documentary and tangible things: 

14. For the time period from May 1, 2019, through October 31, 2019, recordings of all 

telephone calls between Your sales agents and prospective Service Providers during 

which the prospective Service Provider completed Your Voice Log Process and 

responded affirmatively to all of the questions asked in Your Voice Log Process. This 

request seeks, to the extent available, recordings of the entirety of such telephone calls, 

and is not limited to the recordings of the Voice Log Process. 

15. For each recording responsive to Request for Production No. 14, above, all records and/or 

data pertaining to the telephone call, including but not limited to the date on which the 

telephone call occurred, the duration of the telephone call, the name of Your sales agent 

on the call, Your unique identifier for the prospective Service Provider (i.e., the 

“Service Provider identification number”) on the telephone call, if one was eventually 

assigned, and the membership price the prospective Service Provider was quoted during 

the Voice Log Process. 

16. For each recording responsive to Request for Production No. 14, above, any quality 

assurance assessments, evaluations, or grading of Your sales agent’s performance during 

the specific telephone call. 

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PUBLIC FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION | OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY | FILED 8/4/2022 | Document No. 605238 | PAGE Page 19 of 178 * PUBLIC *; 

Respectfully, 

Dated: June 8, 2022 By: s/ Sophia H. Calderón 

Sophia H. Calderón 

Colin D. A. MacDonald 

Breena M. Roos 

M. Elizabeth Howe 

Federal Trade Commission 

Northwest Region 

915 Second Ave., Suite 2896 

Seattle, WA 98174 

Tel.: (206) 220-6350 

Fax: (206) 220-6366 

Email: scalderon@ftc.gov 

cmacdonald@ftc.gov 

broos@ftc.gov 

mhowe@ftc.gov 

Counsel Supporting the Complaint 

4 of 5 
 

 

PUBLIC FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION | OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY | FILED 8/4/2022 | Document No. 605238 | PAGE Page 20 of 178 * PUBLIC *; 

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE 

I hereby certify that on June 8, 2022, I caused a true and correct copy of the foregoing to 

be served via electronic mail to: 

William A. Burck 

Dawn Y. Yamane Hewett 

Kyra R. Simon 

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP 

1300 I Street NW, 9th Floor 

Washington, DC 20005 

(202) 538-8000 

williamburck@quinnemanuel.com 

dawnhewett@quinnemanuel.com 

kyrasimon@quinnemanuel.com 

Stephen R. Neuwirth 

Jennifer J. Barrett 

Neil T. Phillips 

George T. Phillips 

Jared Ruocco 

Kathryn D. Bonacorsi 

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP 

51 Madison Avenue, 22nd Floor 

New York, NY 10010 

(212) 849-7000 

stephenneuwirth@quinnemanuel.com 

jenniferbarrett@quinnemanuel.com 

neilphillips@quinnemanuel.com 

georgephillips@quinnemanuel.com 

jaredruocco@quinnemanuel.com 

kathrynbonacorsi@quinnemanuel.com 

Counsel for Respondent HomeAdvisor, Inc. 

Dated: June 8, 2022 By: s/ Sophia H. Calderón 

Sophia H. Calderón 

Federal Trade Commission 

Northwest Region 

915 Second Ave., Suite 2896 

Seattle, WA 98174 

Counsel Supporting the Complaint 

5 of 5 
PUBLIC FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION | OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY | FILED 8/4/2022 | Document No. 605238 | PAGE Page 21 of 178 * PUBLIC *; 

EXHIBIT B 
 

PUBLIC FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION | OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY | FILED 8/4/2022 | Document No. 605238 | PAGE Page 22 of 178 * PUBLIC *; 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 

BEFORE THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION 

COMMISSIONERS: Lina M. Khan, Chair 

 Noah Joshua Phillips

 Rebecca Kelly Slaughter 

 Christine S. Wilson

 Alvaro M. Bedoya 

In the Matter of 

HOMEADVISOR, INC., 

a corporation, Docket No. 9407 

d/b/a ANGI LEADS, 

d/b/a HOMEADVISOR POWERED 

BY ANGI. 

HOMEADVISOR, INC.’S RESPONSES AND OBJECTIONS TO COMPLAINT 

COUNSEL’S SECOND SET OF REQUESTS FOR PRODUCTION 

Respondent HomeAdvisor, Inc. (“HomeAdvisor”) submits the following responses and 

objections to Complaint Counsel’s Second Set of Requests for Production. 

INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT 

Any objection or lack of an objection to any portion of a request should not be deemed an 

admission that HomeAdvisor has information or documents sought by the request. 

HomeAdvisor’s objections and responses to any request do not constitute, and shall not be 

interpreted as, its agreement with or admission as to the truth or accuracy of any legal or factual 

characterizations or other allegations stated or implied in the request. HomeAdvisor’s failure to 

object to any request on a particular ground or grounds shall not be construed as a waiver of its 

right to object on any additional ground(s). 

1 
PUBLIC FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION | OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY | FILED 8/4/2022 | Document No. 605238 | PAGE Page 23 of 178 * PUBLIC *; 

HomeAdvisor’s responses to these requests are made subject to, and without waiving, 

limiting, or intending to waive: (i) each of HomeAdvisor’s General Objections and the above 

stated reservations; (ii) the right to object, on the grounds of privilege, relevancy, or materiality, 

or any other proper grounds, to the use of information, for any purpose, in whole or in part, in 

any subsequent step or proceeding in this action; and (iii) the right at any time to revise, correct, 

add to, or clarify any of the responses herein. 

GENERAL OBJECTIONS 

1. HomeAdvisor objects to the requests because they include multiple, discrete 

subparts that accordingly count as separate requests. 

2. HomeAdvisor objects to the definition of “Lead” as vague and ambiguous 

because it encompasses “any set of information sold or otherwise provided” by HomeAdvisor to 

any service provider, including any information about any “Person” (i) “who has expressed an 

interest in, or has visited a website related to, home services, or (ii) who has been identified as a 

potential customer for home services.” HomeAdvisor will respond based on its understanding of 

the term “lead” as that term is used within HomeAdvisor. 

3. HomeAdvisor objects to the term “Person” as overly broad, vague, and not 

proportional because it means, without limitation, “any natural person, corporation, partnership, 

or other business association and any other legal entity, including all members, officers, 

predecessors, assigns, divisions, affiliates, and subsidiaries.” 

REQUESTS FOR PRODUCTION 

REQUEST 14: For the time period from May 1, 2019, through October 31, 2019, 

recordings of all telephone calls between Your sales agents and prospective Service Providers 

during which the prospective Service Provider completed Your Voice Log Process and 

responded affirmatively to all of the questions asked in Your Voice Log Process. This request 

2 
 

 

 

PUBLIC FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION | OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY | FILED 8/4/2022 | Document No. 605238 | PAGE Page 24 of 178 * PUBLIC *; 

seeks, to the extent available, recordings of the entirety of such telephone calls, and is not limited 

to the recordings of the Voice Log Process. 

HOMEADVISOR’S RESPONSE: HomeAdvisor objects to this request because it 

seeks materials that are unreasonably cumulative and duplicative of those HomeAdvisor already 

produced in connection with the FTC’s Civil Investigative Demands to HomeAdvisor. 

HomeAdvisor previously produced close to 2,000 recorded sales calls, and has produced the 

voice log records associated with the FTC’s service provider witnesses in this action. See, e.g., 

Declaration of Kenneth H. Kelly (PX0021) ¶ 3; Declaration of Michael Metzger (RX0095) ¶ 9 & 

Exs. 1–12. Complaint Counsel never identified any deficiency in HomeAdvisor’s production in 

this regard during the CID period, and its request that HomeAdvisor locate even more sales call 

recordings and associated data beyond that previously produced furthermore is unduly 

burdensome and not proportional. 

Subject to these objections, HomeAdvisor will make reasonable, good-faith efforts to 

locate and produce additional sales call recordings that took place during the specified time 

period. 

REQUEST 15: For each recording responsive to Request for Production No. 14, above, 

all records and/or data pertaining to the telephone call, including but not limited to the date on 

which the telephone call occurred, the duration of the telephone call, the name of Your sales 

agent on the call, Your unique identifier for the prospective Service Provider (i.e., the “Service 

Provider identification number”) on the telephone call, if one was eventually assigned, and the 

membership price the prospective Service Provider was quoted during the Voice Log Process. 

HOMEADVISOR’S RESPONSE: HomeAdvisor objects to this request because it 

seeks materials that are unreasonably cumulative and duplicative of those HomeAdvisor already 

3 
 

 

PUBLIC FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION | OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY | FILED 8/4/2022 | Document No. 605238 | PAGE Page 25 of 178 * PUBLIC *; 

produced in connection with the FTC’s Civil Investigative Demands to HomeAdvisor. 

HomeAdvisor previously produced close to 2,000 recorded sales calls, and has produced the 

voice log records associated with the FTC’s service provider witnesses in this action. See, e.g., 

Declaration of Kenneth H. Kelly (PX0021) ¶ 3; Declaration of Michael Metzger (RX0095) ¶ 9 & 

Exs. 1–12. HomeAdvisor also previously produced voluminous sales call quality assurance 

materials, including quality assurance scorecards, many of which are cited in the FTC’s Motion 

for Summary Decision. See, e.g., Motion for Summary Decision Statement of Material Facts ¶¶ 

52–60. Moreover, Complaint Counsel previously took extensive deposition testimony from 

HomeAdvisor witnesses regarding its quality assurance processes and procedures. See id. (citing 

Deposition of Chad Schott). Complaint Counsel never identified any deficiency in 

HomeAdvisor’s production in this regard during the CID period, and its request that 

HomeAdvisor locate even more sales call recordings and associated data beyond that previously 

produced furthermore is unduly burdensome and not proportional. Moreover, while 

HomeAdvisor continues to investigate this issue, HomeAdvisor’s current understanding is that 

voice log records are accessible only through a manual, service provider-by-service provider 

search, and thus would be unduly burdensome to retrieve en masse across the voluminous sales 

call recordings sought here. 

HomeAdvisor also objects to this request because certain data referenced in this request 

would be unduly burdensome to locate and produce, or would be equally available to Complaint 

Counsel. For example, “the duration of the telephone call” would be readily apparent from the 

length of the recording and the “Service Provider identification number[s]” assigned to service 

providers are present in the data previously produced in response to Complaint Counsel’s First 

Set of Interrogatories. Relatedly, HomeAdvisor objects to this request as it would require 

4 
 

PUBLIC FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION | OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY | FILED 8/4/2022 | Document No. 605238 | PAGE Page 26 of 178 * PUBLIC *; 

HomeAdvisor to compile and or create the requested information; as such it is not a proper 

request for production of existing documents or other materials. See, e.g., Georgacarakos v. 

Wiley, 2009 WL 924434, at *2 (D. Colo. Apr. 3, 2009) (“[I]f a requested document is not in the 

possession of a party or non-party, such person need not create the non-existent document.”); 

Thompson v. Lantz, 2009 WL 3157561, at *1 (D. Conn. Sept. 25, 2009) (“[A] party cannot be 

compelled to create, or cause to be prepared, new documents solely for their production.”). 

In addition, HomeAdvisor objects to this request because it seeks multiple, discrete 

categories of information—including “[1] the date on which the telephone call occurred, [2] the 

duration of the telephone call, [3] the name of Your sales agent on the call, [4] Your unique 

identifier for the prospective Service Provider . . . , and [5] the membership price the prospective 

Service Provider was quoted during the Voice Log Process”—that accordingly count as at least 

five separate requests. 

Subject to these objections, as noted above in response to Request 14, HomeAdvisor will 

make reasonable, good-faith efforts to locate and produce additional sales call recordings that 

took place during the specified time period. HomeAdvisor also will investigate whether any 

additional responsive information referenced in this request and associated with those recordings 

is reasonably accessible and available. 

REQUEST 16: For each recording responsive to Request for Production No. 14, above, 

any quality assurance assessments, evaluations, or grading of Your sales agent’s performance 

during the specific telephone call. 

HOMEADVISOR’S RESPONSE: HomeAdvisor objects to this request because it 

seeks materials that are unreasonably cumulative and duplicative of those HomeAdvisor already 

produced in connection with the FTC’s Civil Investigative Demands to HomeAdvisor. 

5 
 

PUBLIC FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION | OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY | FILED 8/4/2022 | Document No. 605238 | PAGE Page 27 of 178 * PUBLIC *; 

HomeAdvisor previously produced close to 2,000 recorded sales calls, and has produced the 

voice log records associated with the FTC’s service provider witnesses in this action. See, e.g., 

Declaration of Kenneth H. Kelly (PX0021) ¶ 3; Declaration of Michael Metzger (RX0095) ¶ 9 & 

Exs. 1–12. HomeAdvisor also previously produced voluminous sales call quality assurance 

materials, including quality assurance scorecards, many of which are cited in the FTC’s Motion 

for Summary Decision. See, e.g., Motion for Summary Decision Statement of Material Facts ¶¶ 

52–60. Moreover, Complaint Counsel previously took extensive deposition testimony from 

HomeAdvisor witnesses regarding its quality assurance processes and procedures. See id. (citing 

Deposition of Chad Schott). Complaint Counsel never identified any deficiency in 

HomeAdvisor’s production in this regard during the CID period, and its request that 

HomeAdvisor locate even more sales call recordings and associated data beyond that previously 

produced furthermore is unduly burdensome and not proportional. 

Subject to these objections, as noted above in response to Request 14, HomeAdvisor will 

make reasonable, good-faith efforts to locate and produce additional sales call recordings that 

took place during the specified time period. HomeAdvisor also will investigate whether any 

additional responsive information referenced in this request and associated with those recordings 

is reasonably accessible and available. 

Submitted this 8th day of July 2022. 

QUINN EMANUEL URQUHART & SULLIVAN, LLP 

/s/ Jennifer J. Barrett 

William A. Burck 

Dawn Y. Yamane Hewett 

Kyra R. Simon 

1300 I Street NW, 9th Floor 

Washington, DC 20005 

(202) 538-8000 

6 
 

 

 

PUBLIC FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION | OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY | FILED 8/4/2022 | Document No. 605238 | PAGE Page 28 of 178 * PUBLIC *; 

williamburck@quinnemanuel.com 

dawnhewett@quinnemanuel.com 

kyrasimon@quinnemanuel.com 

Stephen R. Neuwirth 

Jennifer J. Barrett 

Neil T. Phillips 

George T. Phillips 

51 Madison Avenue, 22nd Floor 

New York, NY 10010 

(212) 849-7000 

stephenneuwirth@quinnemanuel.com 

jenniferbarrett@quinnemanuel.com 

neilphillips@quinnemanuel.com 

georgephillips@quinnemanuel.com 

Attorneys for Respondent HomeAdvisor, Inc. 

 7 
 

 

 

 

 

 

PUBLIC FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION | OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY | FILED 8/4/2022 | Document No. 605238 | PAGE Page 29 of 178 * PUBLIC *; 

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE 

I certify that on July 8, 2022, I caused the foregoing document to be served via email to: 

Sophia H. Calderón 

Colin D. A. MacDonald 

Breena M. Roos 

M. Elizabeth Howe 

Federal Trade Commission, Northwest Region 

915 Second Ave., Suite 2896 

Seattle, WA 98174 

scalderon@ftc.gov 

cmacdonald@ftc.gov 

broos@ftc.gov 

mhowe@ftc.gov 

Counsel Supporting the Complaint 

 /s/ Neil T. Phillips

 Neil T. Phillips 

8 
PUBLIC FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION | OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY | FILED 8/4/2022 | Document No. 605238 | PAGE Page 30 of 178 * PUBLIC *; 

EXHIBIT C 
PUBLIC FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION | OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY | FILED 8/4/2022 | Document No. 605238 | PAGE Page 31 of 178 * PUBLIC *; 

United States of America 

Federal Trade Commission 

CIVIL INVEST/GA TIVE DEMAND 

1. TO 1a. MATTER NUMBER 

HomeAdv1sor, Inc. 

cto -ne Corporation Trust company, Registered Agent 

Co 1923106 rporation Trust Center 

1209 Orange Streat 

Wi!mington. DE 19801 

This demand is issued pursuant to Section 20 of the Federal Trade Commission Act. 15 U.S.C. § 57b-1, in the course 

ofan investigation to determine whether there is, has beet\, or may be a violation of any laws administered by the 

Federal Trade Commission by conduct, activities or proposed action as described in Item 3. 

2. ACTION REQUIRED 

D You are required to appear and testify. 

LOCATION OF HEARING YOUR APPEARANCE Will BE BEFORE 

DATE AND TIME OF HEARING OR DEPOSITION 

l'vl You are required to produce ad documeflts described In the attached schedule that ere in your possession, custody, or control, and to make them 

~ available at your address indicated above for Inspection and copying or reproduction at the date and time s~lfied below. 

fvl You are required to answer th~ interrogatories or provide the written report desc,lbed on the attached ~chedule. Answei eil<h lnterrogdtoryor report 

~ separately and fully in writing.Submit your answers or report to the Records Custodian named In Item 4 on or before the date specified below. 

□ You are required to produce the tangible things described onthe attached schedllle. ProdU<:e such tt,irigs to the Records Custodian named In Item4 

on 01 before the date specified below, 

DATE AND TIME THE DOCUMENTS, ANSWERS TO INTERROGATORIES. REPORTS, AND/OR TANGIBLE THINGS MUST BE AVAILABLE 

AUG O 5 2019 4+ 5: OOPI""' 

3. SUBJECT OF INVESTIGATION 

See attached Schedule and attached resolution(s). 

4. RECORDS CUSTODIAN/DEPUTY RECORDS CUSTODIAN 5. COMMISSION COUNSEL 

Erk Winker/ Laureen France Sophie Calderon 

Federal Trade Commission Federal Trade Commission 915 2nd Ave, Sul19 2896 

915 2nd Ave, Suite 2896 Seaitle, WA 9817' 

Seattle, WA 96174 20622~86 

COMMISSIONER'S SIGNATURE 

DATEISSUEDJ /~ / / 

INSTRUCTIONS AND NOTICES Tho dcli•ery ol 11,,s dema,d 10 you by "'1Y metllod p•eJu:ribed by ltle Comm,ssion·s 

Rules or Pradlce Is legal serv,ce and ma) subJCCt you to a penalty imposed by law for 

fa,'ure to compiy. The p,oduction OI documenIs orthe submlsslOn of answers and repcn 

In response !o tllll: demand must be m3de unoar ~ sworn oe111f11:a!e, In lh& form prinled 

on the second page of this demilld, by lhe person to Whom lhts de!Mlld JS directed or. n 

n01 a nanual persoo. oy a pers011 or persons ~avm9 ~nowle<lge ol 1tle racu and 

aeunsianees of~ product,oo or responai'Jle ror answering eacl't uiterrogatory or 

repon questlOII. This demand does nOI require approval by 0MB Linder the Papeiwci k 

Reduction f\Q of 1980. 

PETITION TO LIMIT OR QUASH 

The Cormmsion's Rules of Praalce requre tlul1 any petition to ltm~ 01 quash lhts 

demOl'CI"" filed within 20 days '11\er oe,v,ce, or, rftl>e return dale ts leH lh•n 20 days 

aner service. prror to the t\'tum oa1e The orjgInaI and twei'la copies o: lhe pe1HI011 mus1 

De fll~ wttn Ille Seaetar/ of tru, Federal Traoe Commission a1ld one copy should 1>e 

$&/\I lo Ille Comm1£S1on C<>IM'lsel named In Item 5 

YOUR RIGHTS TO REGULATORY ENFORCEMENT FAIRNESS The FTC nu • IOngolo"°lng commi1menl to • lair nogvllllot)' enr0tcemcnl envlfoomem. 

tt you are e sma'i buslnes~ (under SmaN Businea Adminbtratioo standards), you have 

angh1 to conled the Small Business Aclm1111Stration'a Nauonal Ombudsman at t-eea. 

REGFAIR (1-888-734-3247) 0< www.•ba.gov/oml>udsman r"g•tdfroQ \Ila lavness or tile 

compliance ano e11rorcemenI adill!tlu oftile agency You shoJld unclaritano, hOwever. 11'181 ll1C Na1tona1 Omouo.man CSllOlll c/lilllgf, stop, oroalay a fe<Jerat agency 

ell/0<cement actlon. 

The FTC ~nclly fort>\ds re1eflelc,y eds by ns employees, end you w,U not be pcnafozed 

roc eKpresslng a concern aoout 1hese ae'.ivltle$. 

TRAVEL EXPENSES 

Use the et1dosed bavel voucner to ClaJm compensetllln lowhith yoo mo enUllcd asa 

WitolW< for tre Comm1 ..1on Th• compteted ~ave! YOIIClll!f and ltlls dem:ind cl\ould be 

presem~d to Commiss:on Couisel •or payment Nyou are permanemty or 1emporarty 

Jlvirlg somewncre Olherll'ISrl ine a:10.,ess on tt,,s demand and l would requre 8XC8$S1Ve 

1r2vel for you to appear, you mucl Ct! prior approval from Commission Counsal 

A copy ol 1he Commiss!o'1'• Rut» (If PtaC\1<% is avahl>le oollne a1 b.W111l>~ tx/ 

F.le,;$!3ul~of~ Paper eoples ere ava£able upon rcquea 

FTC Form 144 (rev 11/17) 
PUBLIC FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION | OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY | FILED 8/4/2022 | Document No. 605238 | PAGE Page 32 of 178 * PUBLIC *; 

Form of Certificate of Compliance* 

IM!e do certify that all of the documents, fnrormauon and tangible things required by the attached Civil Investigative Demand 

which are in the possession, custody, control, or knowledge of the person lo whom the demand is directed have been 

submitted to a custodian named herein. 

If a document or tangible thing responsive to this Civil Investigative Demand has not been submitted, the objections to its 

submission and the reasons for the objection have been stated. 

If an interrogatory or a portion of the request has not been fully answered or a portion of the repcrt has not been completed, 

the objections to its submission and the reasons for the objections have been stated. 

Signature 

Title 

Sworn to before me this day 

~,n the event that more than one person is responsible for complying wfth tills demand. the certfficate shall Identify the 

documents for wtuch each certifying indi\lidual was responsible. In place of a sworn statement, the above certificate of 

compliance may be supported by an unsworn declaration as provided for by 28 U.S.C. § 1746. 

FTC Form 144-Back (rev. 11/17) 
PUBLIC FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION | OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY | FILED 8/4/2022 | Document No. 605238 | PAGE Page 33 of 178 * PUBLIC *; 

FEDERAL TRADE COMM1SSION (''FTC") 

CIVIL INVESTIGATIVE DEMAND ("CID") SCHEDULE 

FTC Fiie No.1923106 

Meet and Confer: You must contact FTC couns~i, Sophi~ CaldeTon ((206) 220-4486; 

scatderon@ft~.gov), as soon as possible to schedule a meeting (telephonic or in person) to be 

held within fourteen (14) days after You receive this CJD. At the meeting, You must discuss 

with FTC counsel any questions You have regarding this CID or any possible CID modifications 

that could reduce Your cost, burden. or response time yet still provide the FTC with the 

information it needs to pursue its investigation. The meeting also will address how to assert any 

claims of protected status (e.g.• privilege, work-product. etc.) and the production of electronically 

stored information. You must make available at the meeting personnel knowledgeable about 

Your information or records managemeni- systems, Your systems for electronically stored 

info1111ation, custodians like ly to have information responsive to this CID, and any other issues 

relevant to compliance with this CID. 

Document Retention: You must retain all documentary materials used in preparing responses 

to this CrD. The FTC may require the submission ofadditional Documents later during this 

investigation. Accordingly, You must suspend any routine procedures for Document 

destruction and take other m~asures to preventthe destruction of Documents in Your 

possession, custody, or confro1 that are in any way relevant to this investigation, even if those 

Documents are being retained by a third-paity or You be! ieve those Documents are protected 

from discovery. See 15 U.S.C. ~ 50; see also 18 U.S.C. §§ 1505, 1519. 

Sharing oflnform~tion: The FTC will use information You provide in response to the CID for 

che purpose ofinvestigating violations ofthe laws the FTC enforces. We will not disclose such 

information underthe freedom of Information Act, 5 U .S.C. § 552. We also will not disclose 

such information. except as al lowed under the FTC Act ( J5 U.S.C. § 57b-2), the Commission· s 

Rules of Practice ( 16 C.F.R. ~§ 4. 10 & 4.11), or if required by a legal obligation. Under the FTC 

Act, we may provide Your infonnation in response to a request from Congress or a proper 

request from another law enforcement agency. However, we will not publicly disclose such 

information without giving You prior notice. 

Manner of Production: You may produce documentary material or tangible things by making 

them available for inspection and copying at Your principal place of business. Alternatively, 

You may send all responsive Documents and tangible things to Erik WiDlrnr, F.ederal Trade 

Commission, 915 2nd Avenue, Suite 2896, Seattle, Washington 93174. If You are sending 

the materials, use a courier service such as Federal Express or UPS because heightened security 

measures delay postal delivery to the FTC. You must inform FTC counsel by email or telephone 

of how You intend to produce materials responsive to this CrD at least live days before the 

return date. 

Certification of Compliance: You or any person with knowledge of the facts and 

circumstances relating to the responses to this Cl D must certify that such responses are complete 

by signing the ··Ce11ification ofCompliance·· attached to this CID. 

-1-
PUBLIC FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION | OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY | FILED 8/4/2022 | Document No. 605238 | PAGE Page 34 of 178 * PUBLIC *; 

Certification of Records of Regufarty Conducted Activity~ Attached is a CeL1ification of 

Records of Regularly Conducted Acti vity, Please execute and return this Certification with Your 

response. Completing this certification may reduce the need to subpoena You to testify at future 

proceedings to establish the admissibility of Documents produced in response to this ClD. 

D~finitions and Instructicl!s: Please review carefully the Definitions and rnstructions that 

appear after the Specifications and provide important information regarding compliance with this 

CLO. 

I. SUBJECT OF INVESTIGATr ON 

Whether the ·'Company'' as defined herein has engaged in deceptive or unfair practices in 

connection with the marketing. sale, and provision of its products or services to home service 

providers, in violation ofthe FTC Act. 15 U.S.C. § 45, and the Telemarketing Sales Rule. 16 

C.F.R. Part 310. and whether Commission action to obtain monetary relief would be in the 

public interest. See also attached resolution(s). 

II. SPECIFICATIONS 

Applicable Time Period: Unless otherwise directed, the applicable time period for the requests 

-sel forth below is from July 31. 2014. until the date-of full and complete compliance with this 

CID. 

A- Jnterrogatoi·ies: Provide answers to each specification and subspecificalion below, 

separately ru1d fully in writing and under oath: 

1. Provide the following information about HomeAdvisor, Inc., including its wholly 

or partially owned subsidiaries. affiliated businesses or companies, joint ventures. 

operations tlnder assumed names, and unincorporated divisions: 

a. state its full legal name(s) and corporate form. and all other names and 

corpot'.ate forms under which it has done business; 

b. state its p lace(s) of business1 including mailing and physical addresses; 

c. Identify a.Ii of its owners and for each owner state the portion(s) of 

ownership interest held by each owner and the period during which this 

interest was held; and 

d, Identify all of its officers, directors, members, and managers; state tbe 

position(s) held by each individual; describe the job duties for each 

position; and state the period during which they held each position. 

2. fdentify former employees ofHomeAdvisor, lnc .. whose job duties included 

marketing or selling Your products or services to service providers. 

3. For each product or service You offer to service prov iders. including membership, 

Exact Match. Market Match. Instant Booking. Job Opportunities, LiveDirectory, 

-2-
PUBLIC FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION | OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY | FILED 8/4/2022 | Document No. 605238 | PAGE Page 35 of 178 * PUBLIC *; 

Professional Website, HomeAdvisor Seal of Approval, and mHelpDesk 

(referenced at, for example, pro.homeadvisor.com/terms/terms-conditions/ and 

pro.homeadvisor.coirJhow-it~works/): 

a. describe the product or service: 

b. describe how a service provider can agree to purchase it (e.g., online, over 

the telephone, mail, etc.)~ 

c. state the price(s) You charge service providers ( including per-Lead 

price(s)) and. to the extent the price(s) vary. describe the relevant variables 

and how they jmpact price; 

d. explain whether it can be purchased in isolation or must be purchased in 

combination with another product or service; 

e. describe how and when the service prov ider is charged and billed; an<l 

f. describe any applicable refund am.I/or credit policy or procedure. 

4. Describe the circumstances in which a service provider's purchase of one ofYour 

products or services automatically enrolls the service provider in one or more 

additional product(s) or service(s) offered by You. Include in Your description 

whether the service provider has the opportunity to opt out ofthe additional 

product(s) or service( s), what the service provider must do to optout ofthe 

additional product(s) or service(s), and what You do to inform the service 

provider of what they must do to opt out of the additional product(s) or service(s). 

5. Describe any circumstances in which a service provider must have a ··spend 

target"' (referenced at, for example. pro.homeadvisor.com/how-it-works/) that 

exceeds a ce,iain amount. provide that amount, and expla in why the spend target 

must exceed a certain amount. 

6. Describe each of the methods by which You obtain Leads. 

7. Identify each Person from which You purchased Leads and state the period(s) 

during which You purchased Leads from the Person. 

8. For each Person You ldentify in Your response to Interrogatory A.7, provide the 

following information about the Leads Yoll purchased: 

a. state. by month and year, the number of Leads that You provided to 

service providers; 

b. state, by month and year. the number oftimes in total You provi.ded Leads 

to service providers; 

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c. describe each method used to solicit consumer information for the purpose 

of genet·ating the Leads: 

d. provide the domain ofeach website used to solicit consumer information 

for the purpose ofgenerating Lhe Leads; 

e. Identify the owner of each website used to solicit consumer information 

for !he purpose of generating the Leads; and 

f. describe the caiegories of information You required for the Leads, 

including any requirements concerning the format or content ofsuch 

information (e.g., number of characters, type ofcharacters). 

9. Provide the domain ofeach website, excluding domains provided in Your 

response to Interrogatory A.8.d, used to solicit consumer information for the 

purpose of generating Leads for You. 

10. For each domain You fdentify in Your response to Interrogatory A.9, provide the 

following information about the Leads You obtained: 

a. state. by month and year, the number of Leads that You provided to 

service providers; 

b. state, by month anJ year, the number of times in total You provided Leads 

to service providers; 

c. Identify the owner ofeach website used to solicit consumer inforination 

for the purpose ofgenerating the Leads; and 

d. describe the categories of infonnation You required for the Leads, 

including any requirements concerning the format or content ofsuch 

information (e.g., number ofcharacters, type of characters). 

l I. Provide the following information, by month and year, about Leads that You 

provided to service providers: 

a. state the number ofLeads that You provided: 

b. state the number of times in total You provided Leads; 

c. state the number of Leads that converted into a job for the service provider 

to whom You provided the Lead; 

J. state the number of times in total that a Lead converted into a job for the 

service provider to whom You provided the Lead: 

e. stale the number of Leads for which a service provider sought a refund or 

credit or otherwise complained to You about the quality of the Lead: 

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f. state the munber of times in total that a service provider sought a refund or 

credit or otherwise compla ined to You about the quality ofa Lead; 

g. state the total amount You paid for the Leads; 

h. state the gross revenue, and the percentage of Your total gross revenue. 

You i-eceived from selling the Leads: and 

i.. state the ntnnber oftitnes that a service provider did not pay You fot a 

Lead, and describe the reason(s) why each such service provider did not 

pay You (e.g., they requested and received a credit, they requested and 

received a refund. You provided the Lead at no cost as a promotion. they 

refused to pay for the Lead). 

12. Describe Your relationship with the following websites: 

a. Acechimneyservices.com 

b. A tticladderinsta I lationpros.com 

C. Basketballcouitservicepros.corn 

d. Bi I lsboilerset·v ice.com 

e . Fireplacepaintingpros.com 

f. Flatroofrepairnow.com 

g. F rozenpipetha wingnow .com 

h. Getsnowremoved.com 

I . J wbui ldi nginspection.com 

.J , Jwcabinetpainters.com 

k. Jwstructuralinspection.com 

l. Leafvacuumserv icenow.com 

m. Masonryrepointingpros.com 

n. Mosquitocontrolnow.com 

0 . Mothcontrolpros.com 

p. Muskratrernovals.com 

q. Faverpatioinstallationnow.com 

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I'. Playgroundmulching.com 

s. Privacyf.encepainling.co111 

l. Radiantfloorheatingpros.corn 

u, Roo~russrepair.com 

V. Shrubremovalpros.com 

w. S lidinggatepros.com 

x. Spademowing.com 

y. TextLJreddrywalIpros.com 

z. Yoleexterminationpros.com 

aa. Wisechandeliers.corn 

bb. Woodenramppros.com 

cc. Yardleafremoval .com 

13. Describe all efforts that You unde1take to determine the accuracy. completeness. 

and authenticity of the Leads You provide to service providers, including 

determining: 

a. that the contact information is valid (e.g., the phone number is active): 

b. that the contact information is accurate (e.g., the phone number is 

associateq with the consumec's name); 

c. that the consumer owns a home: 

d. that the consumer's home is located within the ser'vice area of the service 

providers to whom the Lead is sent; 

e. that the consttmer is ready to begin a project related to home services; 

f. that the consumer is ready to pay for a project related to borne services; 

g. that the consumer is aware that You will receive their information; 

h. that the consumer has consented to a service provider contacting them; 

1. that. ifthe service provider calls the consumer. the service provider will 

not be violating Section 310.4(b)(iii)(B) ofthe Telemarketing Sales Rule. 

16 C.F.R. Part 3 I 0: 

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.J. that the consumer recently submitted the information to which the Lead 

pertains; and 

k. that the Lead is not duplicative ora Lead You have already provided to 

service providers. 

Describe all policies and procedures that You have in place to measure the 

likelihood tJ1at a Lead You provide to a service provider wil Iconvert into a job for 

that service provider. 

15. Describe the process(es) by which You provide Leads to service providers. 

including: 

a. how You notify the service providers ofthe Lead; 

b. the information about the Lead initially provided to the service provider: 

c. the point at which the service provider is obligated to pay You for the 

Lead; 

d. the number of service providers who receive the same Lead, and how that 

number is determined~ 

e. how much time elapses between when a Lead is provided to You and 

when You provide the Lead to the service providers; and 

f. how You determine which service providers receive a Lead, including 

circumstances in which the number of service providers who receive the 

Lead is less than the number of service providers who are otherwise 

eligible to receive the Lead. 

16. Describe how service providers can control the amount, frequency, cost, and types 

of Leads they receive from You (e.g., pausi11g or turning off Leads). Include in 

Your response a description of: 

a. the process(es) by which service providers can exercise that control (e.g .. 

logging into their account, calling customer service, etc.); and 

h. any limitations or exceptions to that control, including any Limitations or 

exceptions unique to the process(es) by which the service provider 

exercises control. 

17. Describe what You do to inform service providers ofYour response(s) to 

Interrogatory A. I 6. 

18. Describe what You do to inform service providers or Your response(s) to 

Lnterrogatory A.3. f. 

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19. Describe all policies and procedures that You have in place regarding how You 

process servi ce providers· complaints about Your products and services, including 

the Leads they receive. Include in Your response any policies and procedures 

.regarding responding to. issuing refunds or credits for, documenting. escalating, 

and monitoring those complaints. 

20. Describe all policies and procedures that You have in place that measme service 

providers· satisfaction wilh Your products and services, including the Leads they 

receive. Include in Your response retention ratesj refund rates, cancellation rates, 

complaint rates, and the rates at which accounts are sentto collections. 

21. Provide the following information regarding mHelpDesk: 

a. describe Your ownership of mHelpDesk. including the date and the means 

by which You acquired any ownership interest in mHelpDesk; 

b. describe the terms of the arrangement You have with mHelpOesk, 

including the terms under which You and mHelpDesk remit funds to one 

another in connection with the sale or offcriT1g for sale ofml-lelpDesk.'s 

services to service providers; 

c. describe Your promotion and marketing ofmHelpDesk's services to 

service providers. including: 

i. to the extent that You bm1dle mHelpDesk's services in the sale of 

any of Your products or services. all disclosures You provide to 

service providers regarding how much of theil' payment is for 

mHelpDesk's services; and 

11. all disclosures You provide to service providers regarding any optout provisions governing service providers' subscription to 

mHelpDesk·s services. including how long service providers have 

to opt out and any process(es) that service providers must follo"v in 

order to opt out; and 

d. state, by month and year, the number and percentage ofservice providers 

who opt out of mHelpDesk within the first month oftheir subscription to 

ml lelpDesk; and 

e. state. by month and year. the number and percentage of service providers 

with a subscription to 111HelpDesk who use mHelpDesk. 

22. for each instance in which You have revised the lenns and conditions governing 

Your relationship with service providers. provide the date ofthe revision and list 

the revisions made. 

23. Describe Your pol icics and procedures 1·elating to processing and collecting 

payment from service providcts. Your response should Identify any Persons You 

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use to process and collect payment from service providers, and desctibe the terms 

of Your agreement(s) w ith such Persons. 

24. Describe Your policies and procedures relating to requests by service providers 

that they not receive phone calls from You or on Your behalfregarding Your 

products or services. 

25. Describe any policies, procedures, or processes that You have had in place to 

ensure that the marketing, sale, and provision of Your products or services to 

service providers comply with the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. § 45. and the 

Telemarketing Sa les Rule, 16 C.F.R. Part 3 10. ldentify the individual(s) at the 

Company responsible for developing, reviewing. implementing. monitoring. or 

supervising these policies, procedures. or processes. 

26. List all lawsuits that have been filed by or against Youi including arbitration. 

relating co Your marketing, sale, or provision of products or services to service 

providers. For each lawsuit, describe: 

a. the nature of the suit: 

b. the patties involved~ 

c. the case number, jurisdiction, and any other identifying information about 

the lawsu it; 

d. the date it was filed; 

e. whether You implemented any litigation hold in connection with the 

lawsuit. and ifso. the scope and duration of the litigation hold; and 

r. the status ofthe lawsuit, including, if applicable, how and the date it was 

resolved. 

27. List all investigations by any federal or state law enforcement or regulatory 

agency relating to Your marketing, sale, or provision ofproducts or services to 

service providers. For each investigation, describe: 

a. the nature of the investigation; 

b. the investigating agency; 

c. the date You were informed of the investigation; 

d. whether You implemented any litigation bold in connection with the 

investigation. and if so, the scope and duration ofthe litigation hold; and 

e. the status of the investigation, including, ifapplicable. how and the date it 

was resolved, 

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28. Describe any Documents that would be responsive lo Document Requests B. l 

thrOLlgh B.29 below, but that have been deleted, destroyed, mislaid, transferred, 01· 

are otherwise unavailable, and describe the circumstances and date on which they 

were deleted, destroyed. mislaid, transferred. or made unavailable. 

B. Document Requests: Produce all Documents described below that were created, in use, 

or in effect during the Applicable Period. 

l. Documents You considered or reviewed in formulating Your responses to the 

fnterrogatories posed 1n this CID. 

;2. Documents sufficient to show Your organizational structure. 

3. All materially different advertising or marketing materials used to advertise or 

market Your products and services to service providers. 

4. All materially different do~uments relating to Your responses to Interrogatory 

A.3. and not provided in response to Document Request 8.3 that You have 

displayed. provided, or otherwise made available to service providers. 

S. A representative sample, to be agreed upon by Commission Counsel and the 

Company following a meet and confer, of commw1ications. and documentation of 

communications, between You and service providers. inclt1ding telephone 

1·ecordings, chat logs, emails, and notes in any customer relationship management 

system You use. 

6. Policies, procedures, guidance, training materials, or scripts regarding Your 

communications with service providers. 

7. Communications between custodians to be agreed upon by Commission Counsel 

and the Company following a meet and confer, regarding policies. procedures, 

guidance, training materials, or scripts regarding Your communications with 

service providers. 

8. Documents sufficient to show any disclosures to service providers about opting 

out· of additional products and services that You de-scribe in Your response 10 

1 nterrogatory A.4. 

9. Communications between You and the Persons You [dentify in Your response to 

Interrogatory A.7 reg~rding Leads. 

l0. Agreements between You and the Persons You Identify in Your response to 

Interrogatory A. 7. 

11. Evaluations ofthe Persons, or Leads provided by the Persons. You Identify in 

Your response to Lnterrogatory A, 7. 

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12. Documents related lo Your relationsh ip with the websites llsted in Interrogatory 

A.12. 

13. Communications between custodians to be agreed upon by Commission Counsel 

and the Company followittg a meet and confer. regarding the accuracy, 

completeness. and authenticity of the Leads Yot1 provide to service providers. 

14. All materially different forms, templates. or other Documents designed to solicit 

consumer information and used to generate Leads that You provide to service 

providers, including any such Documents displayed on third-party websites. 

15, Documents sufticieot to show, by month and year, the job conversion rate of 

Leads that You provide to service providers. 

16. Documents sufficient to show any disclosure to service providers You describe in 

Your response to Interrogatory A. 17. 

17. Complaints by service providers about the products or services You provide to 

service providers, including the Leads they receive. 

18. Complaints by consumers about becoming the subject of a Lead without the 

consumer's knowledge or consent. 

19. Any spreadsheet, data compilation. repo,t, analysis, or other summary regarding 

Your response to Interrogatory A.20. 

20. Non-privileged Documents relating to any investigation, inquiry. action, 

arbitration, or other proceeding. from or on behalfofany govetnmental agency or 

private consumer protection entity (e.g., Better Business Bureau) relating to 

business activities carried out by You. 

21. Discovery produced by You in in re HomeAdvisor, Inc. Litigation, o . I6-cv01849-PAB-K.LM (D. Colo. filed July 19. 2016). 

22. Agreemettts between HomeAdvisar. lnc. and mHelpDesk. 

23. Documents sufficient to show any disclosure to service providers You describe in 

Your response to Interrogatory A.21. 

24. Agreements governing any relationship between You and service providers, 

including any attachments or appendices to which they refer. 

25. Policies, procedure-s, and agreements t·elating to collecting payment from service 

providers. 

26. Non-privileged Documents related to any internal or external audits regarding 

whether the marketing. sale. and provision of Your products or services to service 

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providers comply with tile FTC Act. 15 U.S.C. § 45. and the Telemarketing Sales 

Rule. J6C.F.R.Part310. 

27. Documents sufficient to show Your rev en lie from each of the products and 

services You offer to service providers, by monlh and year. 

28. Documents sufficient to show Your compensation structure(s) for employees who 

are involved in the marketing and sale of Your products and services to service 

providers. 

29. Documents related to Your Document retention policies. 

ID. DEFINITIONS 

The following detinitions apply to this CID: 

D-l. ·'Advertisemenf> or··Advertising" or''Ad" means any written or verbal statement, 

illuslration, or depiction that promotes the sale of a good or service or is designed to increase 

consumer interest in a brand, good, or service. Advertising media includes, but is not limited t<'.l: 

packaging and labeling; promotional materials; print; television; radio; and Internet, social 

media, and other digital content. 

D-2. ·'Compauy:· ·'You:· or "Your·· means BomeAdvisor, Inc., its wholly or partially 

owned subsidiaries, unincorporated divisions. joint ventures, operations under assumed names. 

and affiliates, and all directors, officers. members, employees, agents, consultants. and other 

persons working for or on behalfof the foregoing. 

D-3. "Doculnent'' means the complete original, all drafts, and any non-identical copy, whether 

different from the original because of notatit)nS on the copy. different metadata, or otherwise. of 

any item covered by l5 U.S.C. § 57b-l(a)(5), 16 C.f.R. § 2.7(o)(2). or Federal Rule of Civil 

Procedure 34(a)( 1 )(A). 

D-4. '·Identify .. or ·'the Identity of' requires identification of (a) natural persons by nan1e. 

iitle0 present business affiliation, present business address. telephone number, and email address 

or, if a present business affiliation or present business address is not known, the last known 

business and home addresses; and (b) businesses or other organizations by name, address. and 

the identities of Your contact persons at the business or organization. 

D-5. "'Lead"• means any set of infonnation about a consun,er (i) who has expressed an interest 

in, or has visited a website related to, home services, 0 1· (ii) who has been identified as a potential 

customer for home services. including Instant Booking, InstanL Connect, Exact Match, Joh 

Opportunity, and Market Match (Pro Finder) leads (referenced at, for example, 

pro.homeadvisor.com/how-il-works/). 

D-6. "Person·· means any natural person, corporation, partnership, or other business 

association and any other legal entity. including all members, officers, predecessors. assigns. 

divisions, nffi liales and subsidiaries. 

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JV. INSTRUCTIONS 

l-1. Petitions to Limit or Quash: You must file any petition to limjt or quash this CID with 

the Secretary of the FTC no later than twenty (20) days after service of the Cl D, or, ifthe return 

date is less than twenty (20) days after service, prior to the return date. Such petition 111ust set 

fo11b all assertions ofprotected status or other factual and legal objections to the CID and comply 

with the requirements set forth in 16 C.F.R. § 2. 1 0(a)(l) - (2). The FTC wilt not corrnider 

petitions fo quasl1 or limit if You have not pr-avious y met and conferred with FTC staff 

and, absent extraordinary circumstances, wiil consider oniy issues raised during tlte meet 

and confer process. 16 C.F.R. § 2.7(k); see also§ 2. l l(b). IfYou me a petition to iimit o:r 

quash, Yon must stilt timely t·esporrd to al! requests that You do not seek to modify or set 

aside in Your pet-itiun. 15 U.S.C. § 57b-l(f); l6 C.F.R. § 2.JO(b). 

1-2. Withholding Requested Mat~rial / Pi·ivilege Claims: For specifications requesting 

production of Documents or anS\.Vers to written interrogatories, if You withhold from production 

any material responsive to this cro based on a claim of privilege. work product protection, 

statutory exemption, or any similar claim, You musr assert the claim no later than the return date 

of this CID. and You must submit a detailed log, in a searchable electronic format, ofthe items 

withheld that identifies the basis for withholding the material and meets all the requirements set 

forth in l6 C .F.R. § 2,. 11 (a) - (c ). fhe information in the log must be of sufficient cletail to 

enable FTC staff to assess the validity ofthe claim for each Document, including atta(:hments. 

without disclosing the protected information. Ifon ly some portion of any responsive material is 

privileged. You must submit all non-privileged portions of the material. Otherwise. produce all 

r~sponsive information am.I material without redc1ctiun. 16 C.F.R. § 2.1 1 (~). The failure lo 

provide information sufficient to support a claim ofprotected status may result in denial of the 

claim. 16 C.F.R. § 2. l l(a)(l). 

1-3. Modification of SpedflcaHons: The Bureau Director, a Deputy Bureau Director, 

Associate Director, Regim1al Director, or Assistant Regional Director must agree in writing to 

any modifications of this cro. 16 C.F.R. § 2.7(1). 

1-4. Scope of Seurcb: This CID covers Documents and information in Your possession or 

under Your actual or constructive custody or contra I, including Documents and in fonnation in 

the possession, custody, or control of Your attorneys, accountants, directors, officers, employees, 

service providers, and other agents and consultants. whether or not such Documents or 

information were received from or disseminated to any person or entity. 

1-5. Identification ofResponsive Documents: for specifications reqt1esting production of 

Documents, You must identify in writing the Documents that are responsive to the specification. 

Documents tbat may be responsive to more than one specification ofrhis CID need not be 

produced more than once. If any Documents responsive to this CfD have been previously 

supplied to the FTC, You may idet,tify the Documents previously provided and the date of 

submission. 

T-6. Maintain Do~ument Order: for specifications requesting pmduction of Documents. 

You must produce Docu1pents in the order in which they appear in Your tiles or as electronically 

stored. [f Documents are removed from their original folders, binders, covers, containers, or 

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electroni.c source, You must specify the folder, binder, cover, container, or electronic media or 

.file paths from which sucb Documents came. 

1-7. Number:ng ofDocuments: For specifications requesting production of Documents. 

You must number all Documents in Your submission with a unique identifier such as a Bates 

number or a Document ID. 

1-8. Production of Copi~s; For specifications requesting production of Documents, unless 

otherwise stated, You may submit copies in lieu oforiginal Documents ifthey are true. correct. 

and complete copies of lhe originals and You preserve and retain the originals in their same state 

as of the time You received this CID. Submission ofcopies constitutes a waiver of any claim as 

to the authenticity oftbe copies should the FTC introduce such copies as evidence in any legal 

proceeding. 

l-9. Production in Color: For specifications requesting production ofDocuments, You must 

produce copies of Advertisements in color, and You must produce copies of other materials in 

color if hecessary to interpret them or render them intell igibJe. 

1-10. Electronicaliy Stored Information: For specLfications requesting production of 

Documents. see the attached FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection Production Requirements 

("'Production Requirements'·). which detail all requirements for the production ofelectronically 

stored information to the FTC. You must discuss issues relating to the production of 

electronically stored information with FTC staff prior to production. 

[-11. Sensitive Personally Identifiable Informatioo ("Sensitive Pil'') or Sensitive Health 

Information ("SHI"): For specifications requesting production of Documents or answers to 

written interrogatories, ifany responsive materials contain Sensitive PJJ or SHL please contact 

rTC counsel before producing those materials to discuss whether there are steps You can take to 

minimize the amount ofSensitive PII or SHl You produce, and how to securely transmit such 

information to the FTC. 

Sensitive PJI includes an individual's Social Security nurnber; an individual's biometric 

data (slJch as fingerprints or retina scans. but nol photographs); and an individual's name, 

address, or phone number in combination with one or more of the following: date of birth, 

Social Security number, driver' s license or state identification number (or foreign country 

equivalent), passport number, financial account number. credit card number, or debit card 

number. SHI includes medical records and other individually identifiable health information 

relating to the past, present. or future physical or mental health or conditions of an individual. Lhe 

provision of health care co an individual. or the past. present. or future payment for the provision 

of health care to an individual. 

1-12. Interrogatory Responses: For specifications requesting answers to written 

interrogatories: (a) answer each interrogatory and each interrogatory subpart separately, fully, 

and in writing; and (b) verify that Your answers are true and correct to Your knowledge by 

signing the '•Certification ofCompliance" attached to this CID. 

1-1 3. Submission of Documents in Lieu ofInterrogatory Answers: You may answer any 

written interrogawry by submitting previously existing Documents that contain the information 

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requested in the interrogatory so long as You clearly indicate in each written interrogatory 

response which Documents contain the responsive information. For any interrogatory that asks 

You to identify Documents, You may, at Your option, produce the Documents responsive lo the 

interrogatory so long as You clearly indicate the specific interrogatory to which such Documents 

are responsive. 

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Federal Trade Com mi sioo Bureau of Consumer Protection 

Production Requirements 

Rt 'istd FtbruR I')' 2018 

fn pr ducing information in to the FTC you must comply with che following production requirements unless 

the FTC agrees otherwi e. Tf you have any questions aboutthese requirements. please contact FTC Counse I 

b fore production. 

Production Format 

General Format: Provide load-ready electronic productions with : (a) an Opticon image load tile 

(.OPT) containing a line for every image file; and (b) a delimited data load file (.DAT) containing a line 

for every document, with bates references, metadata fields, and native file links, where applicable. 

2. Electronically tored Information (' EST''): Documents stored in electronic format in the ordinary 

course of business must be produced in the following format: 

a. For ESI other than the categories described below, submit in native electronic format with 

e tracted text or Optical Character Recognition (OCR) all metadata, and corresponding image 

renderings converted to Group IV 300 DPI, single-page Tagged Jmage Pile Format LTIFF) or 

color JPEG images (if color is necessary to interpret the contents or render them intelligible). 

b. For Microsoft. Excel, Access, or PowerPoint files, submit in native format with extracted text and 

metadata. Data compilations in Excel spreadsheets or in delimited te t formats must contain all 

underlying data, formulas, and algorithms without redaction. 

c. For other spreadsheet database, presentation, or multimedia formats; instant messages; or 

proprietary applications, discuss production format during the meet and confer. 

3. Hard Copy Documents: Documents stored in hard copy in the ordinary course of business must be 

scanned and submitted as 300 DPI individual single page TIFFs (or color JPGs when necessary to 

interpret documents or render them intelligible) with corresponding document-level OCR text and 

logical document determination in an accompanying load file, 

4. Extracted Text/OCR: Submit text as document-level text files, named for the beginning bate number. 

and organized into a folder separate from images. We cannot accept Un icode text files. 

5. Document Identification : Provide a unique Docld or bates number for each hard copy or electronic 

document, consisting of a prefix and a consistent number of numerals using leading zeros. Do not use a 

space to separate the prefix from numbers. 

6. Attachments: Preserve the parent/child relationsh ip by producing attachments as separate documents, 

numbering them consecutively to the parent email, and including a reference to all attachments. 

7. Metadata Production: For each document submitted electronically, include standard metadata fields in 

a standard ASCII delimited data load file. The first line of the data load file shall include the field 

names. Submit date and time data in separate fields. Use these delimiters in delimited data load files: 

S mbol ASCII Character 

< 20 

I? 254 

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Multi En delimiter ® 174 

<Return> Value in data 126 

8. De-duplication: Do not use de-duplication or email threading software without FTC counsel approval. 

9. Pas~vord-Protected File : Remove passwords prior to production. If password removal i not 

possible, provide the original and production filenames and the password under separate cover. 

10. Sensitive PTI or SHI: Use data encryption to protect any Sensiti e PII or SHI (as defined in the CID 

Schedule). Provide encryption passwords in advance of delivery, under separate co er. 

Producing and Submitting Media to the FfC 

1. Prior to production, scan all media and data for irnses and confinn the media and data are viru -free. 

2. For productions smaller than 50 GB, the FTC can accept electronic file transfer via FTC-ho ted secure 

file transfer protocol (Accellion or SecureZip). Contact FTC counsel to request this option. The FTC 

cannot accept files via Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive. or other third-party file transfer sites. 

3. Use the least amount of media necessary for productions. Acceptable media formats are CDs. DVDs 

flash dri es and hard drives. Format all media for use ith Windows 7. 

4. Use a courier service (e.g., Federal Express, UPS) because heightened security measures dela postal 

deli ery. Mark the exterior of aJI package containing electronic media with Lhe following: 

MAGNETIC MEDIA - DO NOT X-RAY 

MAY BE OPENED FOR I lSPECTlO 

5. Pro idea production transmittal letter \i ith each production that includes: 

a. Production volume name (e.g. Volume I), date of production, and numeric Doc ID numberrange 

of all documents included in the production; 

b. List of custodians and the DocID number range for each custodian; 

c. Total number of record and all underlying images, emails. and associated attachments, native 

tiles and databases in the production 

d. List of load file fields in the order in which the are organized in the data file. 
PUBLIC FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION | OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY | FILED 8/4/2022 | Document No. 605238 | PAGE Page 50 of 178 * PUBLIC *; 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 

BEFORE THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION 

COMMISSIONER& Edith Ramirez, Chairwoman 

Maureen K. Ohlhausen 

TerreU Mcsweeny 

RESOLUTION DIRECTING USE OF COMPULSORY PROCESS IN A NO~UBLJC 

INVESTIGATION OF TELEMARKETERS, SELLERS, SUPPLIERS, OR OTHERS 

File No. 012 3145 

Nature and Scope ofInvestigation: 

To determine whether unnamed telemarketers, sellers, or others assisting them have 

engaged or are engaging in: (l) unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce in 

violation ofSection 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C. § 45 (as amended)~ 

and/or (2) deceptive or abusive telemarketing acts or practices in violation ofthe Commission's 

Telemarketing Sales Rule, 16 C.}?.R. pt 310 (as amended), including but not limited to the 

provision ofsubstantial assistance or support - such as mailing lists, scripts, merchant 

accounts, and other information, products, or services- to telemarketers engaged in unlawful 

practices. The inv!!stigation is also to determine whether Commission action to obtain 

monetary reliefwould be in the public interest. 

The Federal Trade Commission .hereby resolves and directs that any and all compulsory 

processes available to it be used in connection v.itb this investigation for a period not to exceed 

five years from the date ofissuance of this resolution. The expiration ofthis five-year period 

shall not limit or terminate the investigation or tbe legal effect ofany compulsory process 

issued during the five-year period. The Federal Trade Corrunission specifically authorizes the 

filing or continuation ofactions to enforce any such compulsory process after the exp1ratioo of 

the five-year period. 

Authorityto ConductJnvestigation: 

Sections 6, 9, 101 and 20 ofthe Federal Trade Commission Act, IS U.S.C. 

§§ 46, 49, 50, 57b-l (as amended); and FTC Procedures and Rules ofPractice, 16 C.F.R. §§ 1.1 

et seq. and supplements thereto. 

By clirection ofthe Commission. ~..1/.i.~ ---,-­

Donald S. Clark 

Secretary 

lssued: April 1, 2016 
- - ---------

PUBLIC FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION | OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY | FILED 8/4/2022 | Document No. 605238 | PAGE Page 51 of 178 * PUBLIC *; 

CERTIFICATIO OF COMPLlAi'lCE 

Pursuant to 28 U ,S.C. § 1746 

J, _____ _______, certify the following with respect to the Federal Trade 

Commission' s (''FTC') Civil Investigative Demand directed to HomeAdvisor, Inc. (the 

"Company .. ) (FTC Fi le o. 1923106) (the ··CI o-): 

I. The Company has identified all documents. information and/or tangible things 

("'responsive information .. ) in the Company' s possession, custody, or control responsive to the 

CID and either: 

(a provided such responsive information to the FTC; or 

(b) for any responsive information not provided given the FTC written objections 

setting faith the basis for withholding the responsive infonnation. 

2. 1 verify that the responses to the Cl D are complete and true and correct to my 

knowledge. 

l certify under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct. 

Date: 

Signature 

Printed ame 

Title 
-----------

PUBLIC FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION | OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY | FILED 8/4/2022 | Document No. 605238 | PAGE Page 52 of 178 * PUBLIC *; 

CERTIFICATION OF RECORDS OF REGULARLY CONDUCTED ACTIVITY 

Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1746 

I. l, ______ ______ , have personal knowledge of the facts set forth below 

and am competent to testify as follows: 

2. I have authority to certify the authenticity of the records produced by HomeAdvisor. Inc. 

(the ··Company .. ) and attached hereto. 

3. The documents produced and attached hereto by the Company are originals or true copies 

of records ofregularly conducted activity that: 

a) Were made at or near the time oflhe occurrence ofthe maners set forth by, or 

from information transmitted by. a person with knowledge of those matters; 

b) Were kept in the course ofthe regularly conducted activity of the Company; and 

c) Were made by the regularly conducted activity as a regular practice ofthe 

Company. 

I certify under penalty ofperjury that the foregoing is true and correct. 

Date: 

Signature 
PUBLIC FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION | OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY | FILED 8/4/2022 | Document No. 605238 | PAGE Page 53 of 178 * PUBLIC *; 

EXHIBIT D 
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PUBLIC FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION | OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY | FILED 8/4/2022 | Document No. 605238 | PAGE Page 54 of 178 * PUBLIC *; 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 

BEFORE THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION 

ORAL ARGUMENT 

HOMEADVISOR 

Docket Number 9407 

Remote Meeting via Zoom 

Thursday, July 21, 2022 

1:05 p.m. 

BEFORE: CHAIR LINA KHAN 

COMMISSIONER CHRISTINE WILSON 

COMMISSIONER ALVARO BEDOYA 

COMMISSIONER NOAH PHILLIPS 

COMMISSIONER REBECCA SLAUGHTER 
 

 

 

2 

PUBLIC FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION | OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY | FILED 8/4/2022 | Document No. 605238 | PAGE Page 55 of 178 * PUBLIC *; 

Oral Argument 

HomeAdvisor, Inc. 7/21/2022 

1 ON BEHALF OF THE COMPLAINT: 

2 SOPHIA CALDERON, ESQUIRE 

3 BREENA ROOS, ESQUIRE 

4 M. ELIZABETH HOWE, ESQUIRE 

5 Federal Trade Commission 

6 915 Second Avenue, Suite 2896 

7 Seattle, Washington 98174 

8 scalderon@ftc.gov 

9 

10 ON BEHALF OF RESPONDENT: 

11 STEPHEN R. NEUWIRTH, ESQUIRE 

12 JENNIFER BARRETT, ESQUIRE 

13 KATHRYN BONACORSI, ESQUIRE 

14 NEIL PHILLIPS, ESQUIRE 

15 KYRA SIMON, ESQUIRE 

16 GEORGE T. PHILLIPS, ESQUIRE 

17 Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan 

18 51 Madison Avenue, 22nd Floor 

19 New York, New York 10010 

20 (212) 849-7000 

21 stephenneuwirth@quinnemanuel.com 

22 

23 ALSO PRESENT: 

24 ANISHA DASGUPTA, GENERAL COUNSEL 

25 

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Oral Argument 

HomeAdvisor, Inc. 7/21/2022 

1 P R O C E E D I N G S 

2 - - - - -

3 CHAIR KHAN: Good afternoon, everyone. 

4 The Commission is meeting today in open session 

5 to hear oral argument in the matter of 

6 HomeAdvisor, Docket Number 9407, on the motion 

7 for summary decision filed by counsel supporting 

8 the complainant. The respondent is responded by 

9 Mr. Stephen Neuwirth, and counsel supporting the 

10 complaint is represented by Ms. Sophia Calderon. 

11 Each side will have 45 minutes to 

12 present their arguments. Counsel supporting the 

13 complaint will make the first presentation and 

14 may reserve time for rebuttal. Counsel for the 

15 respondent will then make their presentation. 

16 Counsel supporting the complainant may conclude 

17 argument with a rebuttal presentation. 

18 Because there are a large number of 

19 confidential documents referenced in this case, 

20 the Commission voted last week to close portions 

21 of this meeting to discuss confidential 

22 information pursuant to 5 USC 552b(c)(4) and 

23 (10). 

24 As a reminder, each side is permitted 

25 to reserve up to 20 minutes of their total 

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Oral Argument 

HomeAdvisor, Inc. 7/21/2022 

1 presentation time for discussion of confidential 

2 information. You each should ensure that any 

3 discussion of confidential information occurs at 

4 the end of your presentations. When you are 

5 ready to discuss the confidential information, 

6 please let us know so that we can go into 

7 confidential session. During that time, the 

8 argument will not be web cast to the public. 

9 However, we will resume the web cast once any 

10 confidential discussion has ended. 

11 Ms. Calderon, do you want to reserve 

12 any time for rebuttal? 

13 MS. CALDERON: Thank you, Chair Khan. 

14 I'd like to reserve 10 minutes for rebuttal, 

15 please. 

16 CHAIR KHAN: Great. Please begin when 

17 you're ready. 

18 MS. CALDERON: Good afternoon, Chair 

19 Khan and commissioners. 

20 This is a straightforward case about 

21 deception. For many years and across many 

22 advertising and marketing channels, HomeAdvisor 

23 has consistently and unabashedly misrepresented 

24 central aspects of its products so that home 

25 service providers, primarily small businesses, 

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Oral Argument 

HomeAdvisor, Inc. 7/21/2022 

1 would buy them. 

2 As you know from the parties' 

3 briefing, at a very basic level, HomeAdvisor 

4 sells leads, consumer contact information that 

5 service providers like plumbers and electricians 

6 can use to identify potential clients and land 

7 jobs. HomeAdvisor generates these leads 

8 primarily from its own website and from 

9 third-party lead generators. Service providers 

10 buy these leads from HomeAdvisor without 

11 previewing them in advance, making HomeAdvisor's 

12 representations about their quality and their 

13 characteristics all the more important. 

14 This case isn't about whether 

15 HomeAdvisor is a valuable business. It's not 

16 about whether HomeAdvisor is innovative, and it's 

17 not about whether HomeAdvisor's leads ever turn 

18 into jobs for service providers. This case is 

19 simply about whether the representations that 

20 HomeAdvisor made about its products were true, 

21 and they weren't. Specifically, this case --

22 COMMISSIONER PHILLIPS: Before we get 

23 into, and my apologies for the interruption, 

24 defense counsel cite a number of cases for the 

25 propositions that questions of falsity and 

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Oral Argument 

HomeAdvisor, Inc. 7/21/2022 

1 questions of materiality are factual questions. 

2 Do you agree with that proposition? 

3 MS. CALDERON: Thank you, 

4 Commissioner. Complaint counsel would agree that 

5 there are factual questions, but the overwhelming 

6 evidence in the record makes clear that there's 

7 no genuine dispute here as to what the facts are 

8 at hand in this matter. 

9 COMMISSIONER PHILLIPS: To the extent 

10 that we disagree with that proposition, if we 

11 were to believe that there were disputes as to 

12 falsity or as to materiality, would you agree 

13 that the proper resolution of this question would 

14 be to deny summary decision? 

15 MS. CALDERON: Commissioner, only if 

16 the conclusion is that those disputes are in fact 

17 genuine and that they concern issues that are 

18 material, which falsity would be an issue that is 

19 material here. 

20 COMMISSIONER PHILLIPS: Thank you, 

21 Counselor. 

22 MS. CALDERON: Thank you. 

23 Specifically this case and complaint counsel's 

24 motion for summary decision is about three types 

25 of deceptive claims that HomeAdvisor has 

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Oral Argument 

HomeAdvisor, Inc. 7/21/2022 

1 systematically made to service providers. 

2 The first type of deceptive claims are 

3 what I'll refer to as the lead quality claims, 

4 claims that HomeAdvisor's leads were homeowners 

5 who were ready to hire concerned projects that 

6 matched service providers tasks and location 

7 preferences and that the source of those leads 

8 were people who had sought out HomeAdvisor's 

9 assistance in finding a service provider. 

10 As I'll explain in the confidential 

11 portion of my argument, all of those lead quality 

12 claims simply weren't true. Indeed, service 

13 providers received leads from HomeAdvisor 

14 concerning people who have no interest in getting 

15 any work done at all, leads with patently fake 

16 information, and leads concerning people who have 

17 no idea how HomeAdvisor got their information. 

18 Those are the lead quality claims. 

19 The second type of deceptive claims 

20 are what I'll refer to as the win rate claims, 

21 claims that HomeAdvisor's leads converted into 

22 jobs for service providers at specific known 

23 rates, despite the fact that HomeAdvisor had no 

24 substantiation whatsoever for these rates. 

25 And the third type of deceptive claims 

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Oral Argument 

HomeAdvisor, Inc. 7/21/2022 

1 are the mHelpDesk claims, claims that a 

2 HomeAdvisor's mHelpDesk prescription product was 

3 free for the first month, when in fact it cost 

4 $59.99. 

5 COMMISSIONER WILSON: Counselor, 

6 before you proceed, can I ask a question? 

7 Do we have evidence on the net 

8 impression that service providers took from the 

9 language that the leads were from customers 

10 "ready to hire," "ready to buy," or "looking to 

11 hire"? 

12 MS. CALDERON: Thank you, 

13 Commissioner. 

14 Yes. The record includes, for 

15 example, complaints made to the Better Business 

16 Bureau in which service providers specifically 

17 articulate that they were made these 

18 representations and that their complaint is that 

19 those representations were not true. 

20 COMMISSIONER WILSON: Do you believe 

21 that a copy test would be necessary to facilitate 

22 figuring out what the net impression of the 

23 claims was? 

24 MS. CALDERON: Thank you, 

25 Commissioner. 

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Oral Argument 

HomeAdvisor, Inc. 7/21/2022 

1 Not with the claims that are at issue 

2 in this case. These claims have a plain meaning 

3 that is readily apparent, "ready to buy," 

4 "looking to hire," "exactly what you want to do 

5 in the exact location you want to do it." 

6 And the Commission has held before 

7 that it has both the common sense and the 

8 expertise to decide when -- what claims are made 

9 when they are readily apparent as these are. 

10 COMMISSIONER WILSON: So although the 

11 words may have a plain language meaning, in the 

12 context of providing a lead, a service provider 

13 has to know they need to convert the customer and 

14 the "ready to buy" assertion could mean different 

15 things to different people. So if this case were 

16 to litigate, would you expect to submit copy test 

17 evidence? 

18 MS. CALDERON: Complaint counsel's 

19 position at this point in the proceeding is that 

20 copy testing is unnecessary to establish the 

21 complaints that were actually made. 

22 COMMISSIONER WILSON: Thank you, 

23 Counselor. 

24 MS. CALDERON: Thank you. 

25 CHAIR KHAN: If I could ask one 

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Oral Argument 

HomeAdvisor, Inc. 7/21/2022 

1 follow-up to that. You noted that this language 

2 really had clear, plain meeting. 

3 What do you think of respondent's 

4 argument that these were sophisticated service 

5 providers that really understood how the business 

6 works and that it doesn't always entail actually 

7 seeing a ready job at the end of the day? How 

8 should we assess that if not through net 

9 impressions and what seems to be a very factual 

10 question? 

11 MS. CALDERON: Thank you, Chair Khan. 

12 The complaint counsel agrees that 

13 respondent has gone to great lengths going into 

14 the sophistication of the service providers. 

15 However, respondent has not connected the 

16 sophistication of the service providers to their 

17 interpretation of the actual claims, which 

18 complaint counsel in this case contends have a 

19 very plain meaning. 

20 Respondent's counsel focuses on the 

21 fact that leads are not guaranteed jobs. That is 

22 not a claim that complaint counsel is alleging 

23 HomeAdvisor made. What complaint counsel is 

24 alleging is that HomeAdvisor made claims about 

25 the leads, not about what a lead in and of 

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Oral Argument 

HomeAdvisor, Inc. 7/21/2022 

1 itself, but adjectives that are applied to those 

2 leads, "ready to buy," "ready to hire," "exactly 

3 what you want to do in the exact location you 

4 want to do it." 

5 It is those additional qualifiers or 

6 descriptors of what a lead is and descriptors 

7 that have a plain meaning that respondent has 

8 introduced no evidence that service providers 

9 would interpret those descriptors any differently 

10 from anybody else. 

11 CHAIR KHAN: Thank you. 

12 MS. CALDERON: Because this case is 

13 only about deception, there are only three issues 

14 that are relevant to the motion for summary 

15 decision. 

16 First, whether HomeAdvisor in fact 

17 made the three types of deceptive claims; second, 

18 whether those claims were in fact false or 

19 misleading; and third, whether those claims were 

20 material to service providers. 

21 As is apparent from the abundance of 

22 evidence in the record, there is no genuine 

23 dispute about any of these three issues, and the 

24 Commission should grant the motion. I will 

25 address each of the three issues in turn, but 

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Oral Argument 

HomeAdvisor, Inc. 7/21/2022 

1 before I get started, I wanted to note that while 

2 this portion of my argument is open to the 

3 public, prior to discussing the falsity of each 

4 claim, I will need to transition to an in camera 

5 portion because the vast majority of the evidence 

6 relevant to the motion for summary decision was 

7 designated confidential by HomeAdvisor. I'll 

8 make clear to both the Commission and to the 

9 video conference operator when I'm transitioning 

10 to an in camera portion. 

11 The first issue relevant --

12 COMMISSIONER PHILLIPS: My apologies 

13 for another interruption. The defendants make a 

14 great deal in their briefing about complaint 

15 counsel's alleged failure in their view to show 

16 that the misrepresentations at issue, the alleged 

17 misrepresentations at issue, were a pattern or 

18 that they were systemic in nature. 

19 What do you think is your burden in 

20 that regard? What do you need to show or what 

21 level of misrepresentation or commonality do you 

22 need to show under the case law to prevail here? 

23 MS. CALDERON: Thank you, 

24 Commissioner. 

25 Complaint counsel's position is that 

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Oral Argument 

HomeAdvisor, Inc. 7/21/2022 

1 complaint counsel -- is that we need to show a 

2 pattern, basically evidence that these were not 

3 isolated instances, that there was more than 

4 simply one-off events. And as I will argue 

5 during my argument, we believe that the record is 

6 replete with exactly that kind of evidence, that 

7 these claims appeared in HomeAdvisor's national 

8 advertising, HomeAdvisor's training materials, 

9 HomeAdvisor's internal guidance for its sales 

10 agents, and in fact were made in actual recorded 

11 sales calls to service providers. 

12 COMMISSIONER PHILLIPS: Thank you, 

13 Counselor. 

14 MS. CALDERON: Thank you. 

15 So the first issue relevant to the 

16 motion for summary decision is whether 

17 HomeAdvisor in fact made each of the three 

18 deceptive claims, and there is no genuine dispute 

19 that it did. 

20 As a preliminary matter, HomeAdvisor 

21 does not genuinely dispute with actual evidence 

22 that its national advertising consistently 

23 contained all of the lead quality claims. Its 

24 advertising, including its website and other 

25 marketing materials, regularly claim that its 

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Oral Argument 

HomeAdvisor, Inc. 7/21/2022 

1 leads concern homeowners who are ready to hire a 

2 service provider. For example, its website has 

3 stated HomeAdvisor connects contractors with 

4 homeowners who are ready to hire pros for their 

5 home projects. Another portion of its website 

6 said, you won't have to waste your time with 

7 customers who just window shop. HomeAdvisor 

8 allows you to spend your time with the right 

9 ready-to-buy customers. Still another portion. 

10 We'll connect you with homeowners looking to hire 

11 pros in your area. 

12 In addition to its website, 

13 HomeAdvisor's other marketing materials, 

14 including its e-mail marketing, its magazine 

15 marketing, and radio spots also contained similar 

16 claims. These materials were designated 

17 confidential by HomeAdvisor but the slide 

18 contains citations to where they are in the 

19 record. 

20 The plain meaning of these claims is 

21 clear. HomeAdvisor's leads don't concern people 

22 who are just poking around on the Internet. They 

23 are homeowners who are actually ready to hire a 

24 service provider. Of course, that doesn't mean 

25 that they're ready to hire just anyone. It's not 

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Oral Argument 

HomeAdvisor, Inc. 7/21/2022 

1 a guaranteed job. But they're ready to hire 

2 someone. 

3 HomeAdvisor's advertising also 

4 regularly claimed that its leads matched service 

5 providers' tasks and location preferences. Its 

6 website stated tell us what you do and where, and 

7 we deliver prospects that meet your exact needs. 

8 Another portion of its website said you're in 

9 control. Only get the leads you want. You pick 

10 your service types and location preferences, and 

11 we bring you prospects that match what you want. 

12 Again, the plain meaning of these 

13 claims is clear. HomeAdvisor's leads will match 

14 the task and location preferences of the service 

15 providers who receive them. An indoor painter in 

16 D.C. isn't going to get leads for outdoor 

17 painting in Baltimore. 

18 And HomeAdvisor's advertising also 

19 claimed that the source of its leads were 

20 homeowners who had intentionally sought out 

21 HomeAdvisor for assistance in finding a service 

22 provider. For example, one portion of its 

23 website said, while you're on the job, 

24 HomeAdvisor is finding qualified customers for 

25 you. We spend millions of dollars driving 

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Oral Argument 

HomeAdvisor, Inc. 7/21/2022 

1 customers to our website. 

2 And another portion of its website 

3 said over 30 million homeowners have trusted 

4 HomeAdvisor to help them find quality pros with 

5 the expertise to turn their home improvement 

6 dreams into reality. The plain meaning of these 

7 claims is the same. HomeAdvisor's leads aren't 

8 bundles of consumer information that HomeAdvisor 

9 has somehow obtained from third parties. 

10 Instead, HomeAdvisor's leads concern homeowners 

11 who knowingly came directly to HomeAdvisor for 

12 assistance in selecting a service provider. 

13 As is evident from the multiple 

14 advertisements I just displayed, there is no 

15 genuine dispute that HomeAdvisor made the 

16 deceptive lead quality claims in its national 

17 advertising. But HomeAdvisor deception was not 

18 limited to its national advertising. 

19 HomeAdvisor sales agents in their 

20 sales calls with service providers also regularly 

21 made all three of the deceptive claims, the lead 

22 quality claims, the win rate claims, and the 

23 mHelpDesk claims. In fact, HomeAdvisor sales 

24 agents were trained to make these claims. There 

25 is substantial evidence of this in the record, 

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Oral Argument 

HomeAdvisor, Inc. 7/21/2022 

1 and HomeAdvisor does not genuinely dispute it. 

2 I'll start with the lead quality 

3 claims. HomeAdvisor sales agents repeatedly told 

4 service providers in sales calls that 

5 HomeAdvisor's leads concerned homeowners who were 

6 ready to hire, who had projects that matched 

7 service providers tasks and location preferences, 

8 and had sought out HomeAdvisor directly for 

9 assistance in selecting a service provider. 

10 As I'll explain in the confidential 

11 portion of my argument, all of these claims were 

12 misleading. There are numerous examples in the 

13 record of HomeAdvisor sales agents making these 

14 claims in recorded sales calls. I won't read any 

15 of the call transcripts aloud, but I would direct 

16 the Commission's attention to the appendix to 

17 complaint counsel's statement of material facts. 

18 The appendix is filled with excerpts 

19 from sales calls in which sales agents make the 

20 lead quality claims. As is apparent from the 

21 excerpts in the appendix, sales agents lead 

22 quality claims were predictably consistent with 

23 the claims made in HomeAdvisor's national 

24 advertising, but they were also consistent with 

25 HomeAdvisor's approved claims for its sales 

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Oral Argument 

HomeAdvisor, Inc. 7/21/2022 

1 agents and HomeAdvisor's sales scripts and 

2 training materials and the slide shows citations 

3 to where these materials appear in the record. 

4 The appendix shows that in numerous 

5 instances sales agents made the lead quality 

6 claims using practically the exact same phrasing 

7 that appeared in HomeAdvisor's advertisements, 

8 HomeAdvisor's scripts, and HomeAdvisor's training 

9 materials. In other words, HomeAdvisor sales 

10 agents made the same claims that HomeAdvisor's 

11 advertisements made, and they did so because that 

12 is how they were trained. 

13 I'd like to turn now to the win rate 

14 claims, but before I do so, unless the Commission 

15 has any questions so far that can be discussed on 

16 the open record, I'd like to enter an in camera 

17 portion of oral argument. I'd like to reserve 

18 three minutes of the in camera argument for 

19 rebuttal, which I understand means I have 17 

20 minutes of non-rebuttal time. And can the video 

21 conference operator please confirm. 

22 COMMISSIONER PHILLIPS: Before we go 

23 into confidential or we sort of break, I just 

24 have one additional question. Earlier in 

25 response to my question you agreed that you would 

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1 need to show a pattern of deceptive claims. Is 

2 the question of whether there is in fact a 

3 pattern, is that a -- would you agree with me 

4 that that's a factual question? 

5 MS. CALDERON: Yes. I would agree 

6 that that is a factual question. 

7 COMMISSIONER PHILLIPS: Okay. I 

8 understand your position as it's not in dispute, 

9 but I just wanted to ask, that's a factual 

10 question. 

11 MS. CALDERON: Yes. One that is not 

12 in genuine dispute. 

13 COMMISSIONER PHILLIPS: Thank you for 

14 correcting me, Counsel. 

15 CHAIR KHAN: At this time, we will go 

16 into confidential session. Please pause 

17 complaint counsel's time and turn off the public 

18 web cast. 

19 VIDEOTAPE OPERATOR: You are clear. 

20 You are no longer live. 

21 (Whereupon, the proceedings were held in in 

22 camera session.) 

23 

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20 (End of in camera session.) 

21 CHAIR KHAN: You may begin, Mr. 

22 Neuwirth. 

23 MR. NEUWIRTH: Thank you very much, 

24 Chair Khan, and thank you, Commissioners, for 

25 having this hearing today. 

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1 The question before the Commission 

2 today is not whether the FTC ultimately should 

3 prevail on its claims. Rather, the sole question 

4 is whether at this time when every material fact 

5 is contested and the subject of conflicting 

6 evidence, when discovery on these material facts 

7 is ongoing and when fact-finding in an 

8 administrative law judge trial is just months 

9 away scheduled for November, the Commission 

10 should short-circuit and terminate the entire 

11 fact-finding process and enter a summary decision 

12 as requested by complaint counsel, disregarding 

13 all of the documentary evidence, all of the fact 

14 witness testimony from complaint counsel's own 

15 witnesses, as well as others, as well as expert 

16 opinion that has been submitted and not rebutted 

17 by complaint counsel that contradicts the FTC's 

18 claims. 

19 The record evidence includes 

20 HomeAdvisor data, documents, and witness 

21 testimony demonstrating that the leads 

22 HomeAdvisor provides to its service professional 

23 members are legitimate and provide real value and 

24 that HomeAdvisor has not made the 

25 misrepresentations asserted by complaint counsel 

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1 and certainly not in any widespread or systemic 

2 way. 

3 HomeAdvisor has submitted the opinions 

4 of a lead industry expert refuting the 

5 fundamental premises of the FTC's complaints, an 

6 expert opinion that remains wholly unanswered by 

7 complaint counsel. HomeAdvisor also has 

8 submitted the opinion of an expert statistician 

9 demonstrating the complete lack of standards, 

10 statistical steps to confirm the 

11 representativeness of the sales call sample set 

12 that Ms. Calderon referred to today and which 

13 comprises one of the few bits of actual evidence 

14 on which complaint counsel relies. 

15 And again, the expert opinion of our 

16 statistician remains wholly unrebutted. Even 

17 more so --

18 COMMISSIONER PHILLIPS: Counselor. 

19 MR. NEUWIRTH: Yes, I'm sorry. 

20 COMMISSIONER PHILLIPS: I think 

21 somewhere in complaint counsel's briefing they 

22 raise a question what additional discovery you 

23 want. Can you help explain to us what you hope 

24 to get in discovery? 

25 MR. NEUWIRTH: Certainly. There are 

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1 many matters that would be the subject of ongoing 

2 discovery. First, as I mentioned, we've offered 

3 unrebutted expert opinion, and we need to say 

4 what -- see what, if anything, complaint counsel 

5 can say in response to that. 

6 Second, there have actually been 23 

7 declarations, not just the ones that Ms. Calderon 

8 mentioned, but also declarations of four FTC 

9 employees. And one of the things that came out 

10 in the depositions that we took was that the 

11 declarations of the service providers, former 

12 employees, and homeowners were all written by a 

13 FTC investigator, and the declarants testified 

14 that in fact they -- their recollection was often 

15 different from what had been written in their 

16 declarations about what it was that they were 

17 told, what it was that was relevant to their 

18 decision to join HomeAdvisor, what happened with 

19 the leads that they received from HomeAdvisor. 

20 And remarkably, the Federal Trade Commission 

21 complaint counsel took the position during the 

22 deposition of the investigator who put in a 

23 declaration that we were not entitled to ask her 

24 any questions about the preparation of those 

25 declarations. 

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1 Even though the other declarants whose 

2 declarations they were had testified about their 

3 communications with this investigator who wrote 

4 the declarations, the FTC complaint counsel took 

5 the position that we couldn't ask the 

6 investigator any questions about those 

7 declarations or the discrepancies that had come 

8 out between what was written and what these 

9 declarants were now testifying. 

10 So certainly one of the things we want 

11 to do is go to the ALJ to get relief and to be 

12 able to inquire about the writing of these 

13 declarations and all those discrepancies, and 

14 these are completely material discrepancies. 

15 It's hard to believe that complaint 

16 counsel would have submitted these declarations 

17 with the motion if they really didn't bear in any 

18 material way on the motion. They clearly were 

19 put forward with the intention to be evidence of 

20 how these misrepresentations worked and what 

21 affect they had on people, and all of these 

22 declarants actually ended up testifying either 

23 that the misrepresentations were not made in the 

24 way that complaint counsel's complaint suggests, 

25 that they weren't relied on in the way that 

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1 complaint counsel's complaint suggests, that when 

2 complaints were made, they weren't even about the 

3 subject matter of this case, that they had to do 

4 with other issues. So what could be more 

5 important than follow-up discovery after all of 

6 these depositions which showed that the 

7 declarants didn't really believe or feel what it 

8 was that their declarations stated. 

9 Moreover, it's critical to note that I 

10 believe Commissioner Wilson asked about whether 

11 the FTC complaint counsel had any further 

12 discovery that they wanted to do. It has to be 

13 noted that complaint counsel has served 46 

14 document requests in the ALJ proceeding, 

15 including many with multiple parts, which must 

16 have some materiality to the case or it's hard to 

17 understand why they would have served them. All 

18 of that discovery is still underway. HomeAdvisor 

19 has served many document requests on the 

20 government as to documents and other material 

21 which is relevant to the claims and the 

22 affirmative defenses. 

23 So we would respectfully submit, 

24 Commissioner Phillips, that we are just at the 

25 beginning of this multi-month discovery process 

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1 that the ALJ proceeding contemplated, and it 

2 really makes no sense, with the ALJ hearing just 

3 a couple of months away, to now short-circuit all 

4 of that and jump to summary decision. 

5 In fact, if we look at our 

6 demonstrative number 9, which I believe will be 

7 put up now, when this action started, the 

8 Commission publicly represented that the 

9 allegations against HomeAdvisor "will be tried in 

10 a formal hearing before an administrative law 

11 judge." 

12 It's difficult to understand why now 

13 at this point in the process we would suddenly 

14 abandon that as complaint counsel suggests and 

15 just have a short-circuiting of it and rush to 

16 judgment, which really would be a rubber-stamping 

17 of the complaint, because all that Ms. Calderon 

18 presented to you today was a graphic version of 

19 the complaint and statements about how to 

20 interpret the complaint. There was no evidence 

21 beyond the complaint's allegations that was put 

22 forward to the Commission today. && 

23 And if we look at our tab number 8, 

24 certainly the procedure here really raises a 

25 question about what complaint counsel is trying 

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1 to do is an end run to sidestep the Supreme 

2 Court's mandate in AMG Capital because, as we 

3 know, AMG held that the FTC cannot obtain 

4 monetary relief without first finding that a 

5 practice violates Section 5, and AMG Capital 

6 expressly contemplated that the Commission would 

7 only take action under Section 5 following an ALJ 

8 trial on a fully developed record. In fact, AMG 

9 Capital talks four times about an ALJ trial in 

10 the decision. 

11 So what complaint counsel is now 

12 asking the Commission to do is to have a rush to 

13 judgment when all we have to do is wait a couple 

14 of months to complete the process before the ALJ 

15 and be able to have a fully developed record on 

16 which the Commission can --

17 COMMISSIONER PHILLIPS: Counselor, 

18 this argument struck me as rather novel, and I 

19 just wanted to make sure I understand what you're 

20 saying. Your position is that Section 19 would 

21 not be available ultimately later on in the 

22 process unless there had been a trial before the 

23 ALJ? 

24 MR. NEUWIRTH: What we are saying is 

25 that -- I think that the fair way to characterize 

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1 it is that the Supreme Court clearly said that no 

2 action can be started in district court under 

3 Section 19 unless there was first a finding that 

4 a practice violated Section 5. 

5 COMMISSIONER PHILLIPS: Right. An 

6 issuance of the order, but it's not -- the 

7 statute doesn't speak to how we get there, and 

8 we're clearly able, under the statute, to make 

9 rules for how we conduct our proceeding. 

10 Am I wrong about that? 

11 MR. NEUWIRTH: What I would say is 

12 you're not wrong about the notion that you can do 

13 fact-finding. But what AMG Capital said is that 

14 there needs to be a fully developed record. So 

15 the question here is would granting summary 

16 decision here take place on a fully developed 

17 record. Clearly not. 

18 The ALJ process that this Commission 

19 mentioned when it brought this case is the one 

20 that allows you to have a fully developed record 

21 here, and that's all we're suggesting, that AMG 

22 contemplates a fully developed record before the 

23 Commission would bring a case in federal court 

24 under Section 19. 

25 And what complaint counsel is asking 

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1 for here would short-circuit that and prevent us 

2 from having a fully developed record. 

3 COMMISSIONER SLAUGHTER: Counsel, I 

4 have a question to follow-up on this point. 

5 You started out by saying the issue 

6 before the Commission here on a motion for 

7 summary judgment is whether there's any genuine 

8 issue of material fact. But now what I hear you 

9 to be saying -- and therefore, summary judgment 

10 is not appropriate in this particular case. 

11 But it seems that the argument you're 

12 making now is that summary judgment is never 

13 appropriate for the Commission to issue under 

14 AMG. Is that your argument? 

15 MR. NEUWIRTH: No. Our argument is 

16 that under the circumstances here, to grant the 

17 summary decision would fly in the face of AMG, 

18 which contemplates a fully developed record, and 

19 here the record is not fully developed. We're 

20 not --

21 COMMISSIONER SLAUGHTER: So what would 

22 be a situation where summary judgment would be 

23 appropriate for the Commission under the standard 

24 that you're reading into AMG? 

25 MR. NEUWIRTH: I -- I don't have a 

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1 case before me to be able to evaluate that. But 

2 it would certainly have to be a case unlike here 

3 where there's not any material facts, any ongoing 

4 discovery or any issues that require further 

5 fact-finding. But we're so far from that here 

6 and here certainly where discovery hasn't even 

7 closed in this case. One could imagine a 

8 situation further in the process. But here we're 

9 still at the initial stages of discovery in the 

10 ALJ proceeding. 

11 So I don't know that we have to reach 

12 that ultimate question to know that where we are 

13 in this case is in a zone that would fly in the 

14 face of what's contemplated by AMG Capital. 

15 If we can turn to our slide number 1, 

16 the burden is on complaint counsel to establish 

17 with --

18 COMMISSIONER PHILLIPS: Counselor, 

19 sorry to interrupt you. One more question. 

20 You also make these sort of 

21 constitutional arguments. The relief -- it's not 

22 your motion. But what you're seeking here is for 

23 denial of the motion for summary decision; is 

24 that correct? 

25 MR. NEUWIRTH: That is correct. 

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1 COMMISSIONER PHILLIPS: Okay. Thank 

2 you. 

3 MR. NEUWIRTH: That is all we are 

4 seeking, and we believe that's the only issue the 

5 Commission needs to decide today. 

6 CHAIR KHAN: In light of that, I'd 

7 like to ask you a little bit about -- in addition 

8 to the constitutional argument, you also raise a 

9 defense under the Communications Decency Act. I 

10 want to understand if you're raising that defense 

11 across the board, or if it's specific to some of 

12 the claims and not others. 

13 So specifically the claims relating to 

14 the source of the leads and the mHelpDesk 

15 subscription don't appear to me to touch on 

16 anyway -- in any way on information that 

17 consumers or customers are submitting. So I 

18 wouldn't see how the CDA defense would apply 

19 there. 

20 Do you agree with that? And if not, 

21 could you explain why those two claims would also 

22 be protected under CDA? I'd like to understand 

23 the scope of the defense you're alleging there. 

24 MR. NEUWIRTH: We certainly allege 

25 that the CDA would apply anywhere as you said, 

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1 Chairman -- Chair Khan, with respect to anything 

2 that is providing information that would have 

3 come from homeowners or some outside party. And 

4 that is obviously a very substantial part of what 

5 is being alleged here. 

6 To the extent that there are claims 

7 that are just related to what was said about 

8 mHelpDesk or other matters that just relate to 

9 HomeAdvisor's own representations, I don't think 

10 we would be claiming that it applies there. 

11 CHAIR KHAN: So both with mHelpDesk 

12 and presumably the source of the lead, which only 

13 relate to HomeAdvisor's representations and not 

14 at all dependent on information submitted by 

15 customers, you would not be claiming a CDA with 

16 those two counts; is that right? 

17 MR. NEUWIRTH: With respect to the 

18 second count on sources of the lead, I'm not sure 

19 we would say today that there's no allegation 

20 that there's some connection to information that 

21 was provided by homeowners. But I certainly 

22 agree with your premise that to the extent a 

23 claim does not relate to the information from 

24 homeowners, we would not be asserting that the 

25 CDA applies there. 

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1 CHAIR KHAN: Okay. Thank you. 

2 COMMISSIONER WILSON: To pick up on 

3 Chair Khan's questions about the CDA respondent, 

4 you said in your brief if information is entered 

5 by a customer, you're merely the conduit passing 

6 along that information to the service provider, 

7 and you're not responsible for inaccuracies and 

8 you're entitled to immunity as a publisher under 

9 the act. But your materials also emphasize that 

10 HomeAdvisor uses a vetting process to ensure the 

11 leads are accurate and from "serious buyers." 

12 So I'm wondering conducting this 

13 review and vetting these submissions by customers 

14 would make immunity less likely. So can you help 

15 me understand where the line should be drawn? 

16 MR. NEUWIRTH: Yes. I believe that 

17 the case law we cite, Commissioner Wilson, 

18 suggests that the immunity under the CDA would 

19 apply regardless of what HomeAdvisor may have 

20 done subsequently. But we certainly believe that 

21 whether the CDA did or did not apply all the 

22 steps that HomeAdvisor took to vet the leads is 

23 one of the key facts here that is a material fact 

24 that complaint counsel has not responded to, 

25 demonstrating that the representations that 

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1 HomeAdvisor made were not false. 

2 And I think we can see this clearly. 

3 If I could ask if we could put up what I believe 

4 was slide 13 from complaint counsel's 

5 presentation because one of the things that has 

6 been glossed over today is whether the statements 

7 here were even false to begin with. 

8 The sort of starting premise here was 

9 that these were false -- that these were 

10 misrepresentations. Why don't we look at this 

11 here. For example, under the third 

12 representation here, how it works, it says, "Over 

13 30 million homeowners have trusted HomeAdvisor to 

14 help them find quality pros with the expertise to 

15 turn their home improvement dreams into reality. 

16 It's just one of the reasons you can depend on us 

17 to bring you highly targeted prospects that will 

18 grow your business." 

19 Now, Ms. Calderon told you that that 

20 statement is false and a misrepresentation 

21 because it would lead one to think that every 

22 lead comes from HomeAdvisor itself and that no 

23 leads come from affiliates. This statement 

24 doesn't say anything about affiliates. It is a 

25 fact issue whether someone would interpret this 

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1 statement to mean that HomeAdvisor gets no leads 

2 from affiliates. 

3 It is absolutely true that over 30 

4 million homeowners have trusted HomeAdvisor to 

5 help them find quality pros with the expertise to 

6 turn their home improvement dreams into a 

7 reality. That is an absolutely true statement. 

8 Only 15 percent of HomeAdvisor leads come from 

9 affiliates. 

10 Ms. Calderon did not show you a single 

11 statement, other than this one, and there is 

12 nothing false about this statement. The first 

13 statement that's up here, "We'll connect you with 

14 homeowners who are looking to hire pros in your 

15 area," that's not a false statement. There are 

16 certainly homeowners who may say they want to 

17 hire someone tomorrow. There are certainly some 

18 homeowners who say that they're looking for an 

19 estimate. Those are types of information that 

20 HomeAdvisor provides. 

21 Ms. Calderon didn't have an ability to 

22 tell you what it is that HomeAdvisor tells people 

23 when they get their leads. That information 

24 about someone -- whether someone wants an 

25 estimate or whether someone says "ready to hire," 

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1 that information is provided when the lead is 

2 given to the service provider. And we have 

3 testimony from the FTC's own witnesses that when 

4 someone gets a lead from someone who's looking 

5 for an estimate, that can be someone who is ready 

6 to hire. When someone says, "I need an 

7 estimate," that is one of the steps that you take 

8 when you decide to go forward with a job. I 

9 think we've all had the experience of wanting to 

10 do a job, like a car repair, but first getting an 

11 estimate. 

12 So the witnesses here testified that 

13 someone who says that they want an estimate might 

14 be ready to hire. And one of the great examples 

15 of this is one of the people who was a declarant 

16 for the FTC was a service provider who provided 

17 pest elimination services, like termites. And 

18 they testified that what happens in their 

19 business is that someone who wants to have work 

20 done has to ask for an inspection, which is 

21 usually done for free. If the inspection doesn't 

22 yield any termites, there won't be any work to 

23 do. But they testified that that is a completely 

24 legitimate lead in their business because that's 

25 the way the business works. Somebody says, "I 

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1 need to have an inspection." And it's only after 

2 the inspection that they decide whether to have a 

3 job. 

4 We had one witness, one service 

5 provider, actually testify "I don't ever want to 

6 have to negotiate on price. I don't want people 

7 who have an interest in low prices. I want 

8 people who will only pay high prices for my good 

9 services." Now that's fine. It's a free 

10 country. People can do that. If certain leads 

11 decided not to hire that person, that doesn't 

12 mean they weren't ready to hire. It just means 

13 they were interested in someone who was going to 

14 give them a competitive price, and this service 

15 provider wasn't willing to do it. So there was 

16 no misrepresentation. 

17 And finally, in the middle category 

18 here, which says "You're in control, only get the 

19 leads you want," look at the quote. "You pick 

20 your service types and location preferences and 

21 we bring you prospects that match what you want." 

22 That's a true statement. The service providers 

23 pick the location and the service types they 

24 want, and HomeAdvisor's system works to get them 

25 homeowners who have selected their service type 

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1 or have selected -- in their geographic location. 

2 Now, are there sometimes that things 

3 don't work out where there can be mistakes where 

4 somebody enters the wrong information or where 

5 there's an inadvertent lead sent? Sure. 

6 Remember, there are hundreds of thousands of 

7 leads every year, probably millions over the time 

8 period we're talking about. And the fact that 

9 there are isolated instances that complaint 

10 counsel has provided here where a lead didn't 

11 match either the location or the type of job that 

12 a service provider had selected doesn't mean that 

13 there's something wrong with the system or that 

14 false statements are being made. 

15 What is left out here as well is 

16 HomeAdvisor has a clear policy of providing 

17 credits to any service provider who can 

18 demonstrate that they received a lead that was 

19 not for their service area or for their service 

20 type. 

21 So this after two years of 

22 investigation and all the work that's been done, 

23 look at the statements that you've been shown 

24 here. What is false about these statements? 

25 COMMISSIONER BEDOYA: Counsel, if I 

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1 may, page 6 of complaint counsel's presentation 

2 public says, "Does HomeAdvisor increase the 

3 service provider's profit? Absolutely. You 

4 won't have to waste your time with customers who 

5 just window shop. HomeAdvisor allows you to 

6 spend your time with the right ready-to-buy 

7 customers." 

8 Could you read that first sentence? 

9 "You won't have to waste your time with customers 

10 who just window shop." Doesn't that imply that 

11 the customers are ready to buy and that there's 

12 not people in there who are just getting 

13 estimates or just budgeting? 

14 MR. NEUWIRTH: Well, there's a very 

15 big space, Commissioner, between window shopping 

16 and ready to buy. Window shopping is someone 

17 who --

18 COMMISSIONER BEDOYA: I agree. 

19 MR. NEUWIRTH: Window shopping is 

20 someone who has no interest whatsoever. Someone 

21 who says they want a budget estimate or somebody 

22 who says they want an inspection for termite 

23 services, those people are ready to buy. 

24 Remember, the way this system works, 

25 and it's fully disclosed and every service 

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1 provider knows this and has to make affirmative 

2 statements that they agree, is that HomeAdvisor 

3 sends leads to several service providers at a 

4 time. So the service providers have to make 

5 their own efforts to reach out. A lead -- as Ms. 

6 Calderon acknowledged today a lead is not a job. 

7 A lead is a opportunity to convert a lead into a 

8 job. So service providers are competing with 

9 each other, as they all understand, to get this 

10 work and very often. 

11 COMMISSIONER BEDOYA: One follow-up if 

12 I could. So another thing that's published is 

13 the interface, which is the customers who want 

14 service can specify ready to buy versus just 

15 planning and budgeting. 

16 When you send these leads from both of 

17 those sources to the service providers, do you 

18 specify -- do you specify these folks said ready 

19 to buy, these folks said just planning, or do you 

20 not specify -- distinguish between those two? 

21 MR. NEUWIRTH: That information is 

22 absolutely provided, and it shows up in the 

23 leads --

24 COMMISSIONER BEDOYA: You tier them 

25 somehow? You let the service provider know these 

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1 folks are ready to hire? These folks are in the 

2 planning and budgeting process? 

3 MR. NEUWIRTH: Right. But what I 

4 think is very critical, Commissioner, is that the 

5 testimony of the FTC's own witnesses made clear 

6 that when someone says they are planning and 

7 budgeting, for many types of jobs that is 

8 considered ready to hire because there are some 

9 jobs that are very straightforward. Somebody 

10 wants to have a cleaning job done. But for 

11 example, when somebody wants to repair the entire 

12 roof of their house, they're not normally going 

13 to be ready to make that decision without first 

14 talking to service providers about what would be 

15 involved in the job, what type of work would be 

16 done. 

17 So for certain jobs when somebody says 

18 they want information about the budget and the 

19 plans, the service providers understand that 

20 someone is ready to hire, but they're not going 

21 to make the decision in 24 hours. It might take 

22 them several days or even weeks to select someone 

23 to do that work. 

24 So again, all of this information is 

25 provided. And what could be a more telling issue 

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1 about the need for more fact-finding than Ms. 

2 Calderon when she --

3 COMMISSIONER PHILLIPS: Counselor. 

4 MR. NEUWIRTH: Yes. 

5 COMMISSIONER PHILLIPS: On the survey 

6 that the customer fills out, information from 

7 which eventually allows leads to be sent to the 

8 number of SPs, what is the highest level on the 

9 drop-down menu of interest that the customer can 

10 convey? What's the phrasing that the company 

11 uses? Isn't it something like ready to hire? 

12 MR. NEUWIRTH: I believe there is some 

13 version of ready to hire, which would be the 

14 highest. 

15 COMMISSIONER PHILLIPS: So one 

16 question that jumps to mind is whatever our 

17 collective Commission judgment of the meaning of 

18 that phrase is, if only a subset of customers are 

19 indicating ready to hire and you're sending leads 

20 that you have said will be ready to hire, even if 

21 it's for purposes of this argument you're 

22 characterizing other things like budgeting is 

23 ready to hire, by your own definition in terms of 

24 what people are telling you when they're 

25 inputting your desire, only a subset are in fact 

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1 ready to hire. Why isn't that deceptive? 

2 MR. NEUWIRTH: Because there are --

3 first of all, we are getting the exact language 

4 now that we can share with you. 

5 COMMISSIONER PHILLIPS: I apologize. 

6 MR. NEUWIRTH: That's a 

7 perfectly legitimate question. I think this is 

8 laid out in detail in our expert report, which is 

9 unrebutted right now in the record. What our 

10 expert report from Mr. Hadalgo, who is an expert 

11 with decades of experience in the lead industry 

12 and has actually written one of the leading books 

13 on lead generation, what he points out is that 

14 for different types of jobs, it is 

15 well-understood that being ready to hire has 

16 different meanings, and HomeAdvisor, as a 

17 company, is covering a wide array of services 

18 here. 

19 We would respectfully submit what the 

20 evidence will show when a full record is 

21 presented to the Commission is that it was 

22 well-understood for many of the types of jobs 

23 that were covered by the HomeAdvisor services 

24 that someone who said they were interested in 

25 different types of steps in the process like 

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1 budgeting or planning were ready to hire. 

2 Again, I think part of the issue here 

3 is what type of job is it. I think we all 

4 understand there are certain major types of home 

5 improvement jobs that require several steps in 

6 the planning process, and we know that this is 

7 true because the very declarants that the 

8 complaint counsel put forward here said this was 

9 true in their testimony. And these are 

10 declarants. 

11 One of the declarants made $1.8 

12 million from his HomeAdvisor leads. Other 

13 declarants made 50,000 or more. Almost all of 

14 them had a positive return on their investment 

15 that was very substantial. And the reason for 

16 that was because they understood that in their 

17 respective areas of work, these leads were very, 

18 very valuable. And I think that's the critical 

19 thing here. 

20 The complaint counsel asks you just to 

21 accept all of the assertions you made. One of 

22 them -- one of the big problems of what complaint 

23 counsel was doing was they said to you, look, 

24 we've got thousands of complaints of the Better 

25 Business Bureau. This proves there were 

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1 misrepresentations. It doesn't prove that at 

2 all. 

3 First of all, there's been no 

4 demonstration that the complaints to the Better 

5 Business Bureau actually concern the subject 

6 matter of the complaint here. In fact, we will 

7 be able to demonstrate only a small fraction of 

8 those complaints have to do with the subject of 

9 the complaint here. Many of them had to do with 

10 issues like billing that are not even an issue in 

11 this case. 

12 Second, Ms. Calderon told you in her 

13 presentation that one of the reasons you should 

14 understand that these statements -- these 

15 supposed false statements were widespread is 

16 because of all of the recorded phone calls that 

17 are in the appendix to her -- to her briefing. 

18 The problem is we have now demonstrated through 

19 an expert report that there is nothing 

20 representative about the isolated sales calls 

21 that had been selected here. 

22 Remember, there were hundreds of 

23 thousands of sales calls a year and over the 

24 relevant period here millions of sales calls. 

25 They have given a small sample of just a couple 

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1 of thousand that economists admitted were 

2 selected without any sort of statistical steps 

3 that are normally taken in Federal Trade 

4 Commission cases. That is what he testified. 

5 And we put in a declaration from a statistics 

6 expert that in the absence of those steps, what 

7 we have here is a set of random exhibits of 

8 things that were said in phone calls that don't 

9 give you any basis to make a general conclusion 

10 about what representations we're making. 

11 Let me tell you why this is so 

12 important. The Federal Trade Commission 

13 complaint counsel put in a declaration from a 

14 former sales representative, and the declaration 

15 that was drafted by the FTC investigator said 

16 that sales agents always made certain 

17 representations. When this former sales 

18 representative was deposed, he testified he had 

19 no basis to say anything about what other sales 

20 representatives did. He really didn't know. 

21 When we asked him why that was in his 

22 declaration, he said he didn't know. 

23 So all of this is subject to further 

24 fact-finding. We have critical issues here were 

25 the statements even false. Complaint counsel has 

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1 had all this time to show you the greatest hits 

2 of their false statements, and what we just 

3 looked at are three statements that they focused 

4 on that on their face are not false, and there 

5 are all sorts of questions, legitimate material 

6 questions, about whether these statements are 

7 even false, to the extent they are arguably false 

8 or to whom were made and when. 

9 CHAIR KHAN: I'm so sorry to 

10 interrupt. I do want to note you have 11 minutes 

11 left. I wanted to see at what point you wanted 

12 to go in camera, and I did want to ask something 

13 that can be asked publicly. 

14 You argue that complaint counsel 

15 failed to prove proximate causation. In my 

16 reading of the deception statement in cases like 

17 Figgie seems clear that once complaint counsel 

18 has proven that respondent has made a material 

19 representation and that it was wildly 

20 disseminated, such as on a website, that there is 

21 a presumption of injury to consumers. 

22 Do you dispute that reading of the 

23 law? Your proximate cause defense suggests it's 

24 complaint counsel that carries this burden in the 

25 first instance, and I just wanted to get more 

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1 clarity. 

2 MR. NEUWIRTH: At this stage in the 

3 proceedings, the issue with proximate cause has 

4 to do with, among other things, whether this 

5 misrepresentation was understood in any way by 

6 the recipients of the information to cause them 

7 to take any action. And we believe that just the 

8 depositions of the FTC's own declarants 

9 demonstrate that they did not rely on any 

10 statements by HomeAdvisor in the way that 

11 complaint counsel is suggesting that they would 

12 have. 

13 CHAIR KHAN: I understand, but your 

14 point is that your argument that discovery is 

15 needed to get at, for example, materiality rather 

16 in the first instance issues of injury because, 

17 as complaint counsel claimed, they have already, 

18 for example, shown that there was a 

19 representation that was material and that was 

20 widely disseminated, that they would have a 

21 presumption of injury there. 

22 MR. NEUWIRTH: Well, we don't think 

23 we're anywhere near getting to a presumption of 

24 injury because we don't believe the complaint 

25 counsel has demonstrated any of the elements that 

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1 would be necessary to get there, and I think this 

2 comes back in part to what several commissioners 

3 asked about earlier when Ms. Calderon was 

4 speaking about net impression. This is clearly 

5 a --

6 CHAIR KHAN: I understand. I guess 

7 I'm trying to understand what is that defense 

8 getting you at this stage given that your 

9 argument really seems to be about discovery being 

10 needed for material misrepresentation rather than 

11 getting at this issue of proximate cause. 

12 MR. NEUWIRTH: Well, I think that -- I 

13 don't disagree with your point that proximate 

14 cause is not necessarily something that will come 

15 into play on these threshold questions that we're 

16 talking about right now in this stage of the 

17 proceeding. But it is an affirmative defense 

18 that we have to put forward on the question of 

19 whether any of these statements would have had 

20 any effect on any of the service providers that 

21 the Federal Trade Commission would be looking to 

22 address. 

23 But I do -- if I could -- I don't --

24 if I could, Commissioner Khan -- Chair Khan, I do 

25 have certain information that I think is 

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1 important to respond to a question that was asked 

2 earlier by Commissioner Phillips. When someone 

3 specifies planning and budgeting when they're 

4 signing up as a homeowner, they then have to 

5 ask -- answer a question, which is when would you 

6 like the work to be completed, and they have to 

7 make a choice. They have to say flexible timing 

8 within one week, within one to two weeks or more 

9 than two weeks. All of that information is 

10 provided to a service provider. 

11 So clearly ready to hire for different 

12 jobs can have timing, and when the information is 

13 provided, the timetable of someone who's even 

14 initially looking for planning and budgeting 

15 information, they have to specify when they 

16 expect to be ready to do the job. They can't 

17 just say planning and budgeting and nothing else. 

18 COMMISSIONER SLAUGHTER: I appreciate 

19 your following up with Commissioner Phillips' 

20 question. I want to follow-up something that you 

21 have talked a couple times about, net impression. 

22 It seems to me that the core of your argument is 

23 even if we don't dispute the fact of these 

24 representations, we dispute whether they create a 

25 net impression in a certain way. And you have 

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1 said that's a question of fact that needs to be 

2 determined. 

3 And I'm wondering if you have any case 

4 law citations that you could point us to as to 

5 whether net impression, when there's no dispute 

6 as to the substance of the representation, is a 

7 question of fact rather than law. 

8 MR. NEUWIRTH: Yes, absolutely. And 

9 if we could put up slide number 3. And one of 

10 the cases we cite here is the in Re: Horizon 

11 court case, which is a Federal Trade Commission 

12 case from 1981, which says "in evaluating whether 

13 advertising is deceptive, the total impression 

14 created by the pictures, words, and oral 

15 representations must be considered in the context 

16 in which they were used and in light of the 

17 sophistication and understanding of the persons 

18 to whom they were directed." And the Heinz V 

19 Kirchner case, that's also cited below, says, "A 

20 representation does not become false and 

21 deceptive merely because it will be unreasonably 

22 misunderstood by an insignificant and 

23 unrepresentative segment of the class of persons 

24 to whom the representation is addressed." 

25 As we know here as well, the FTC has 

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1 regularly recognized, as have the federal courts, 

2 that in cases of consumer deception, which are 

3 based largely here on nonuniform oral statements, 

4 they are necessarily fact intensive and 

5 ill-suited for summary decision. As the FTC 

6 itself has said, isolated instances of 

7 misrepresentation are not enough to establish a 

8 general pattern or practice. 

9 And I think if we look at slide number 

10 4 --

11 CHAIR KHAN: Counselor, I'm really 

12 mindful of the time, and I know several of my 

13 colleagues have questions that are only 

14 appropriate for in camera. So unless you have 

15 strong objections, I'm going to recommend that we 

16 move to that portion. Is that okay with you? 

17 MR. NEUWIRTH: That's fine. If I can 

18 take about 15 seconds just to follow-up on 

19 Commissioner Slaughter's question. I think it's 

20 very important to note the Natural Organics case 

21 which says that the general rule is that when the 

22 meaning or effective words or acts is fairly 

23 disputed, the question is for the trier of facts 

24 to be decided after hearing on all material 

25 evidence. 

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1 And here, clearly this argument today 

2 has demonstrated there are significant questions 

3 about the meaning of terms that had been 

4 identified by complaint counsel as supposedly --

5 CHAIR KHAN: Counselor, I'm so sorry 

6 to cut you off. I want to make sure we get to 

7 our colleagues' questions. Let's move into in 

8 camera. 

9 VIDEOTAPE OPERATOR: We are no longer 

10 live to the public. 

11 (Whereupon, the proceedings were held in in 

12 camera session.) 

13 

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3 (End of in camera session.) 

4 CHAIR KHAN: Ms. Calderon, I will turn 

5 it over for the rebuttal presentation. I will 

6 remind if you have any confidential information, 

7 you can reserve for the end of the presentation 

8 and just let us know when to go back into the 

9 confidential session. 

10 MS. CALDERON: Thank you, Chair Khan. 

11 HomeAdvisor in its opposition briefing and again 

12 in its argument attempts to distract the 

13 Commission from the simplicity of this case by 

14 alleging facts that aren't material, disputes 

15 that aren't genuine given the action evidence in 

16 the record, and procedural issues that have no 

17 bearing on the Commission's ability to grant the 

18 motion for summary decision. 

19 I'll start with the things that I can 

20 discuss on the open record. With respect to the 

21 summary decision standard, HomeAdvisor argues 

22 that the motion for summary decision is too 

23 early, too late, and that resolving the case on 

24 summary decision should never be permitted at 

25 all. It's plainly permitted, pursuant to Rule 

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1 3.24, 20 days after issuance of the complaint, 

2 and a summary decision motion is the equivalent 

3 of a motion for summary judgment, which of course 

4 is ubiquitous in federal district court 

5 proceedings. 

6 As I stated earlier, what matters with 

7 respect to outstanding discovery is when the 

8 party opposing the motion articulates 

9 specifically what discovery is needed and how 

10 that discovery would help them defeat the motion 

11 for summary decision. 

12 When respondent's counsel was asked 

13 that question of what discovery HomeAdvisor 

14 needs, respondent's counsel identified two 

15 things. Respondent's counsel said that they 

16 wanted to know what complaint -- how complaint 

17 counsel would respond to their expert testimony. 

18 So they didn't need additional affirmative 

19 discovery on their end. They just want to know 

20 how complaint counsel will respond to 

21 respondent's expert testimony. That was the 

22 first piece of outstanding discovery that 

23 respondent's counsel identified. 

24 The second was vaguely discovery 

25 concerning the declarants. As I argued earlier, 

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1 the declarants provide helpful, real-life 

2 contextual examples of HomeAdvisor's deceptive 

3 practices, but not a single one of them is 

4 necessary for the Commission to grant the motion 

5 for summary decision. They are consistent with 

6 all of the other evidence in the record, the vast 

7 majority of which is HomeAdvisor's own internal 

8 documents. The Commission need not look to the 

9 declarants to find that the motion for summary 

10 decision should be granted. I do --

11 COMMISSIONER PHILLIPS: I'm sorry. 

12 MS. CALDERON: Excuse me. 

13 COMMISSIONER PHILLIPS: If we credit 

14 your argument that none of that discovery is 

15 necessary for purposes of summary decision, if we 

16 still view there being a material dispute with 

17 respect to the underlying facts constituting the 

18 basis for reliability, would you agree that 

19 summary decision would be inappropriate? 

20 MS. CALDERON: Yes. 

21 COMMISSIONER PHILLIPS: Thank you. 

22 MS. CALDERON: Yes. Thank you. 

23 I do want to make one final point with 

24 respect to the declarants, and I'll do so very 

25 briefly, which is that although the declarants' 

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1 testimony is not necessary to the motion for 

2 summary decision, I do want to flag, as complaint 

3 counsel flagged in our reply brief, that on 

4 several occasions respondent's counsel has 

5 miscast their testimony. So I would urge the 

6 Commission not to accept complaint -- respondent 

7 counsel's representations about that testimony at 

8 face value without actually looking at the 

9 testimony that was provided by these declarants. 

10 Finally, still with respect to the 

11 summary decision standard, HomeAdvisor's argument 

12 that the parties are on the eve of trial and 

13 therefore should go forward, that, of course, 

14 contradicts with the argument that the summary 

15 decision motion is premature. It also negates 

16 the entire purpose of the summary decision 

17 mechanism, which is to avoid the expense and 

18 burden of trial on the parties, on the Commission 

19 when issues can fairly be decided without one. 

20 With respect to the sample of calls 

21 and respondent's counsel's reference to expert 

22 testimony regarding whether it was representative 

23 of all of HomeAdvisor's sales calls. Complaint 

24 counsel did not introduce the sample of calls, 

25 the 100 calls as a representative sample. It may 

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1 be representative. It may not be representative. 

2 It was not introduced by complaint counsel as --

3 under the understanding it was representative. 

4 And it does not need to be here. 

5 In this forum, the Commission is not 

6 identifying quantitative analysis of how many 

7 times injury occurred. The analysis here is 

8 whether there was a pattern or practice of 

9 misrepresentations, the representations made in 

10 those recorded sales calls, and again, I would 

11 direct the Commission to the appendix of the 

12 statement of material fact. 

13 Those representations, in combination 

14 with HomeAdvisor's national advertising, in 

15 combination with HomeAdvisor's internal training 

16 materials, HomeAdvisor's scripts, HomeAdvisor's 

17 approved -- HomeAdvisor's internal guidance from 

18 insurance company, all of that together 

19 establishes substantial evidence of a pattern of 

20 practice. 

21 With respect to Mr. Hadalgo, 

22 HomeAdvisor's --

23 COMMISSIONER PHILLIPS: Counselor, 

24 sorry for the interruption. I just want to 

25 follow-up. Did you just say that the sample of 

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1 calls, whether it's -- the question -- or the 

2 answer to the question whether it is 

3 representative isn't relevant because there are 

4 also other kinds of statements, so it doesn't 

5 matter if it's a representative sample for 

6 purposes of our decision? 

7 MS. CALDERON: That's correct, 

8 Commissioner Phillips. What matters is that that 

9 sample indicates that the claims were actually 

10 made to service providers. 

11 COMMISSIONER PHILLIPS: Thank you. 

12 MS. CALDERON: With respect to Mr. 

13 Hadalgo's report, Mr. Hadalgo being HomeAdvisor's 

14 industry expert, again, I want to emphasize that 

15 what Mr. Hadalgo concludes is that service 

16 providers know and understand that leads are not 

17 guaranteed jobs. 

18 Again, complaint counsel does not 

19 allege that HomeAdvisor stated that the claim 

20 that leads are guaranteed jobs, and nothing about 

21 Mr. Hadalgo's report changes how a service 

22 provider would interpret the very clear plain 

23 meaning of the claims that were made here, ready 

24 to hire. 

25 Briefly I wanted to touch on the CDA. 

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1 The case that HomeAdvisor relies upon in its 

2 briefing is the match case. Even the broad 

3 immunity set forth in match concerned very 

4 specifically representations made by third 

5 parties. This here -- this case is about 

6 HomeAdvisor's representations. In every single 

7 instance, it's about HomeAdvisor's 

8 representations, about HomeAdvisor's own 

9 products. And even under the broad immunity set 

10 forth in match, that is not applicable to the 

11 facts here where the representations are made by 

12 HomeAdvisor. 

13 I'd like to turn -- unless the 

14 Commission has any questions that can be 

15 discussed on the open record, I would like to 

16 turn now to the remaining time that I have in 

17 camera. I did want to clarify whether complaint 

18 counsel has any additional time other than the 

19 almost 3 minutes that I originally had. 

20 MS. TABOR: Yes. Ms. Calderon, yes, 

21 you have an additional 14 minutes and 3 seconds 

22 on your confidential time. 

23 MS. CALDERON: Thank you. Can the 

24 video conference operator please confirm when 

25 public access has been blocked. 

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1 (Whereupon, the proceedings were held in in 

2 camera session.) 

3 

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16 (End of in camera session.) 

17 CHAIR KHAN: Thank you, Ms. Calderon 

18 and Mr. Neuwirth for your presentations. We are 

19 adjourned. 

20 (Whereupon, the oral argument concluded at 3:09 

21 p.m.) 

22 

23 

24 

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CERTIFICATE OF SHORTHAND REPORTER - NOTARY PUBLIC 1 

2 I, Tammy S. Newton, the officer before 

whom the foregoing proceedings was taken, do 3 

hereby certify that the foregoing transcript is a 4 

true and correct record of the proceedings; that 5 

said proceedings were taken by me 6 

stenographically and thereafter reduced to 7 

typewriting under my supervision; and that I am 8 

neither counsel for, related to, nor employed by 9 

any of the parties to this case and have no 10 

interest, financial or otherwise, in its outcome. 11 

12 IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set 

my hand and affixed my notarial seal this 28th 13 

day of July, 2022. 14 

My commission expires: 15 

3/05/2026 16 

17 

18 

19 Notary Public in and for the 

20 State of Maryland 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

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EXHIBIT E 
     

 

 

PUBLIC FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION | OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY | FILED 8/4/2022 | Document No. 605238 | PAGE Page 153 of 178 * PUBLIC *; 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 

Federal Trade Commission 

Seattle, Washington 98174

Breena M. Roos 

Attorney 

 Northwest Region 

 (206) 220-4472 

July 22, 2022 

VIA EMAIL 

HomeAdvisor, Inc. 

c/o Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP 

Attn: William A. Burck (williamburck@quinnemanuel.com) 

Stephen R. Neuwirth (stephenneuwirth@quinnemanuel.com) 

Jennifer J. Barrett (jenniferbarrett@quinnemanuel.com) 

Dawn Y. Yamane Hewett (dawnhewett@quinnemanuel.com) 

Kyra R. Simon (kyrasimon@quinnemanuel.com) 

Neil T. Phillips (neilphillips@quinnemanuel.com) 

George T. Phillips (georgephillips@quinnemanuel.com) 

Jared Ruocco (jaredruocco@quinnemanuel.com) 

Kathryn D. Bonacorsi (kathrynbonacorsi@quinnemanuel.com) 

Re: In the Matter of HomeAdvisor, Inc., Docket No. 9407 

HomeAdvisor, Inc.’s Responses and Objections to Complaint Counsel’s 

Second Set of Requests for Production and 

First Set of Interrogatories 

Dear Counsel, 

We write to request a conference, pursuant to Rules 3.22(g) and 3.38(a), on Friday, July 29, 

2022, regarding HomeAdvisor, Inc.’s Responses and Objections to Complaint Counsel’s Second 

Set of Requests for Production and HomeAdvisor, Inc.’s Responses and Objections to Complaint 

Counsel’s First Set of Interrogatories. We are available anytime that day. Further information 

regarding our request is below. 

Second Set of Requests for Production. Respondent served its Responses and Objections to 

Complaint Counsel’s Second Set of Requests for Production on July 8, 2022. In those responses 

and objections, Respondent lodged a number of objections to Request for Production Nos. 14, 

15, and 16, but nonetheless indicated that “HomeAdvisor will make reasonable, good-faith 

efforts to locate and produce” responsive documents for each Request. 

We held two conferences to discuss Respondent’s responses and objections, on July 13 and 

July 20, 2022. During those conferences, you indicated that Respondent is in the process of 

determining the existence, location, and ability to retrieve documents and/or data responsive to 

Request for Production Nos. 14, 15, and 16. Though you were aware of the existence of at least 

1 
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some sales calls, you were unable to provide an expected timeframe for any production of 

responsive documents and/or data. Further, you were even unable to tell us whether Respondent 

will continue to assert objections to these requests on the grounds that they are unduly 

burdensome. 

During our conversation on July 20, you inquired regarding the scope of sales calls recordings in 

Request for Production No. 14, which seeks the production of recordings of sales calls “during 

which the prospective Service Provider completed Your Voice Log Process and responded 

affirmatively to all of the questions asked in Your Voice Log Process.” As I noted on that call, 

we limited our request in this way in order to reduce the overall number of sales calls responsive 

to the Request. If it is difficult to determine which sales calls include a completed Voice Log 

Process and therefore less onerous to simply produce all recordings of sales calls during the time 

period referenced in the Request, that is acceptable to Complaint Counsel. 

It has now been two weeks since Respondent served its written objections and responses to the 

Second Set of Requests. We are troubled that Respondent is still unable to provide a timeframe 

for production—or even whether it is refusing to produce any category of documents based on its 

objections. We therefore ask that you be prepared at the July 29 conference to confirm the 

following: 

(a) That Respondent has identified documents and/or data responsive to Request for 

Production Nos. 14, 15, and 16; 

(b) That those documents and data will be produced no later than August 5, 2022; and 

(c) That Respondent has not limited its search for responsive documents and/or data 

pursuant to any of the objections set forth in HomeAdvisor, Inc.’s Responses and 

Objections to Complaint Counsel’s Second Set of Requests for Production, served 

on July 8, 2022, or for any other reason. 

If you cannot confirm (a) through (c) above, we ask that you be prepared at the July 29 

conference to describe, in detail, why Respondent cannot so confirm, including: 

(i) The efforts that Respondent has undertaken to search for documents and/or data 

responsive to Request for Production Nos. 14, 15, and 16; 

(ii) If any portion of Respondent’s search for documents and/or data responsive to 

Request for Production Nos. 14, 15, and 16 is ongoing, what efforts are ongoing 

and why Respondent has not completed its efforts; and 

(iii) If Respondent continues to maintain any of the objections set forth in 

HomeAdvisor, Inc.’s Responses and Objections to Complaint Counsel’s Second 

Set of Requests for Production, served on July 8, 2022, which objection(s) and 

why. 

1st Set of Interrogatories. Respondent served its Responses and Objections to Complaint 

Counsel’s First Set of Interrogatories on May 18, 2022, lodging objections but promising that 

“HomeAdvisor is in the process of investigating each category of data sought in this request, and 

pursuant to 16 C.F.R. § 3.35(c) will produce non-burdensome, reasonably accessible and 

available data from July 31, 2014 through April 30, 2022.” 

2 
 

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On June 7, 2022, Respondent produced a large volume of data, in the form of 83 tables 

(produced as 567 excel files). During a telephone conference on June 10, 2022, you indicated 

this production contains some, but not all, data responsive to Interrogatory Nos. 1 and 2. You 

also indicated that, with respect to some categories of data (such as lead source, Interrogatory 

No. 1.f), Respondent was still investigating what data are available and whether producing the 

data is feasible. In a letter dated June 16, 2022, we confirmed that conversation and requested 

that you let us know when Respondent expected to produce the remaining categories of data. 

We have undertaken a review of the data produced on June 7 and are unable to determine which 

fields of data are responsive to which categories of information requested in Interrogatory No. 1 

and 2. As you know, Rule 3.35(c) allows an interrogatory response to “specify the records from 

which the answer [to an interrogatory] may be derived,” but the “specification shall include 

sufficient detail to permit the interrogating party to identify readily the individual documents 

from which the answer may be ascertained.” We therefore request that, no later than July 28, 

2022, Respondent: 

(a) Produce a key that describes, with specificity, each column identifier in the 83 

tables of data. If the description of the column identifier ever differs by table, 

please describe with specificity how so. For your convenience, we have attached a 

list that identifies the columns by table name; or 

(b) Otherwise identify, with specificity, how the answer to Interrogatory Nos. 1 and 2 

can be ascertained from the data in the 83 tables. 

If Respondent cannot provide the above by July 28, we ask that you be prepared at the July 29 

conference to discuss why it cannot do so. Further, we ask that you be prepared at the July 29 

conference to identify any portion of Interrogatory Nos. 1 and 2 for which a response remains 

outstanding. 

We look forward to further discussions regarding the above on July 29, 2022. 

Sincerely, 

/s Breena M. Roos 

Breena M. Roos 

Cc: Sophie Calderón (by email) 

Colin D. A. MacDonald (by email) 

M. Elizabeth Howe (by email) 

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In the Matter of HomeAdvisor, Inc. 

June 7, 2022 Data Production 

Table Column Identifier 

CONFIDENTIAL 1 
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In the Matter of HomeAdvisor, Inc. 

June 7, 2022 Data Production 

Table Column Identifier 

CONFIDENTIAL 2 
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In the Matter of HomeAdvisor, Inc. 

June 7, 2022 Data Production 

Table Column Identifier 

CONFIDENTIAL 3 
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In the Matter of HomeAdvisor, Inc. 

June 7, 2022 Data Production 

Table Column Identifier 

CONFIDENTIAL 4 
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In the Matter of HomeAdvisor, Inc. 

June 7, 2022 Data Production 

Table Column Identifier 

CONFIDENTIAL 5 
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In the Matter of HomeAdvisor, Inc. 

June 7, 2022 Data Production 

Table Column Identifier 

CONFIDENTIAL 6 
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In the Matter of HomeAdvisor, Inc. 

June 7, 2022 Data Production 

Table Column Identifier 

CONFIDENTIAL 7 
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In the Matter of HomeAdvisor, Inc. 

June 7, 2022 Data Production 

Table Column Identifier 

CONFIDENTIAL 8 
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In the Matter of HomeAdvisor, Inc. 

June 7, 2022 Data Production 

Table Column Identifier 

CONFIDENTIAL 9 
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In the Matter of HomeAdvisor, Inc. 

June 7, 2022 Data Production 

Table Column Identifier 

CONFIDENTIAL 10 
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In the Matter of HomeAdvisor, Inc. 

June 7, 2022 Data Production 

Table Column Identifier 

CONFIDENTIAL 11 
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EXHIBIT F 
 

 

 

 

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quinn emanuel trial lawyers | new york 

51 Madison Avenue, 22nd Floor, New York, New York 10010-1601 | TEL (212) 849-7000 FAX (212) 849-7100 

WRITER'S DIRECT DIAL NO. 

(212) 849-7651 

WRITER'S EMAIL ADDRESS 

neilphillips@quinnemanuel.com 

July 28, 2022 

VIA E-MAIL 

Breena M. Roos, Esq. 

Federal Trade Commission, Northwest Region 

915 Second Ave., Suite 2896 

Seattle, WA 98174 

Broos@ftc.gov 

Re: In the Matter of HomeAdvisor, Inc. FTC Docket No. 9407 

Dear Breena: 

We write on behalf of HomeAdvisor, Inc. in response to your July 22, 2022 letter regarding 

HomeAdvisor’s responses and objections to Complaint Counsel’s Second Set of Requests for 

Production and First Set of Interrogatories. We look forward to a productive conferral this Friday, 

July 29, 2022. 

I. Complaint Counsel’s Second Set Of Requests For Production 

As you note in your letter, HomeAdvisor lodged well-founded objections to Complaint 

Counsel’s Second Set of Requests for Production, but nevertheless stated it would make 

reasonable, good-faith efforts to locate and produce responsive materials. 7/22/22 Ltr. from B. 

Roos at 1. And HomeAdvisor has done just that, as we have represented to you during our last 

two conferrals. 

Since then, HomeAdvisor personnel have continued to investigate Complaint Counsel’s 

discovery demands in an effort to satisfy your requests as expeditiously as possible. While we 

will be prepared, as always, to have a candid conferral with you on Friday to update you on these 

efforts, the questions posed in your letter are inappropriate, including because they invade our 

attorney-client privileged and work product discussions with our client. Id. at 2; see, e.g., Pajak 

v. Under Armour, Inc., 2021 WL 4225767, at *5 (N.D.W. Va. Sept. 15, 2021) (“The 

communications concern, for example, whether discoverable information is available and if it is, 

how it could be obtained, as well as the status of efforts to answer discovery requests. And they 

concern opinions about what may be discoverable in the first place. In other words, the documents 

are not simply mechanistic back-and-forth communications about efforts to retain or locate 

quinn emanuel urquhart & sullivan, llp 

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PUBLIC FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION | OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY | FILED 8/4/2022 | Document No. 605238 | PAGE Page 169 of 178 * PUBLIC *; 

information, but rather are imbued with legal counsel’s thoughts, reflections, advice, directives, 

and updates.”). 

II. Complaint Counsel’s First Set Of Interrogatories 

Your sudden demand that we produce—“no later than July 28, 2022,” four business days 

after your letter was sent at 8:44 PM ET on a Friday —a “key” or other information purportedly 

necessary to understand the data HomeAdvisor produced is improper. 7/22/22 Ltr. from B. Roos 

at 3. So is any implication in your letter that we, as opposed to Complaint Counsel, have been 

dilatory in some manner with respect to this data production. 

As you reference, on June 7, 2022, almost two months ago, HomeAdvisor produced “a 

large volume of data,” id., roughly 300GB, in response to Complaint Counsel’s First Set of 

Interrogatories, containing granular information regarding HomeAdvisor’s leads, service 

providers, and homeowner users. You then wrote us a letter on June 16, 2022 that stated, in 

relevant part: “We will let you know if we have any questions once we have completed our review 

of the June 7 production.” 6/16/22 Ltr. from B. Roos at 1. For weeks, Complaint Counsel 

remained silent regarding HomeAdvisor’s data production until suddenly demanding in their July 

22, 2022 letter that HomeAdvisor create—in less than a week with no prior notice—a new “key 

that describes, with specificity, each column identifier in the 83 tables of data” including a 

description of how each column identifier may differ by table. 7/22/22 Ltr. from B. Roos at 3. 

The substance of your request likewise is improper. As we have now stated multiple times 

in connection with other discovery requests, HomeAdvisor has no obligation to create documents 

for Complaint Counsel. See, e.g., Gerrie v. Cty. of San Bernardino, 2020 WL 3978061, at *3 

(C.D. Cal. June 3, 2020) (“Ultimately, plaintiff is asking the court to order defendant to create new 

documents to produce in response to a request for production. That is beyond what is required in 

discovery.”); Thompson v. Lantz, 2009 WL 3157561, at *1 (D. Conn. Sept. 25, 2009) (“[A] party 

cannot be compelled to create, or cause to be prepared, new documents solely for their 

production.”); Georgacarakos v. Wiley, 2009 WL 924434, at *2 (D. Colo. Apr. 3, 2009) (“[I]f a 

requested document is not in the possession of a party or non-party, such person need not create 

the non-existent document.”). 

Nevertheless, while HomeAdvisor disputes Complaint Counsel’s expansive 

characterization of 16 CFR § 3.35(c), HomeAdvisor will supplement its response by next week to 

provide Complaint Counsel with a chart that lists each of the tables produced, along with an 

identification of each interrogatory and subpart to which it responds. HomeAdvisor also will be 

making a supplemental data production next week responsive to Complaint Counsel’s 

Interrogatory 1(h)–(i). 

We look forward to speaking with you tomorrow. 

Sincerely, 

/s/ Neil T. Phillips 

Neil T. Phillips 
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EXHIBIT G 
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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 

FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION 

Northwest Regional Office 

Colin D. A. MacDonald 

Attorney 

(206) 220-4474 

cmacdonald@ftc.gov 

July 29, 2022 

BY EMAIL 

HomeAdvisor, Inc. 

c/o Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP 

Attn: Neil T. Phillips, Esq. (neilphillips@quinnemanuel.com) 

George T. Phillips, Esq. (georgephillips@quinnemanuel.com) 

Re: In the Matter of HomeAdvisor, Inc., Docket No. 9407 

HomeAdvisor, Inc.’s Responses and Objections to Complaint Counsel’s 

Second Set of Requests for Production and First Set of Interrogatories 

Dear Counsel: 

Thank you for meeting with Complaint Counsel today to discuss HomeAdvisor, Inc.’s 

Responses and Objections to Complaint Counsel’s Second Set of Requests for Production and 

HomeAdvisor, Inc.’s Responses and Objections to Complaint Counsel’s First Set of 

Interrogatories. Based on today’s conversation and your letter, dated July 28, 2022, we expect to 

see significant productions in response to both the Requests for Production and the 

Interrogatories next week (by August 5, 2022). Details on the anticipated productions follow. 

Second Set of Requests for Production. Based on our conversation, we understand that 

HomeAdvisor, Inc. has identified approximately 5,000-6,000 call recordings from the time 

period specified in Request for Production 14 and for which quality assurance reviews 

responsive to Request for Production 16 have been similarly identified (collectively referred to 

hereafter as the “Quality Assurance Recordings”). It is also our understanding based on your 

representations regarding your client’s collection efforts that these Quality Assurance Recordings 

do not include any recordings for which no quality assurance form exists. We understand that 

this is because the recordings for which such forms exist are stored in a different location than 

other recordings. You stated that you would produce the Quality Assurance Recordings by 

August 5, 2022, and asked whether we would consider production of the Quality Assurance 

Recordings sufficient for purposes of Request for Production 14. 

The plain reading of Request for Production 14 requires production of recordings from 

the relevant period regardless of whether associated quality assurance forms exist (or ever 

existed). These recordings are plainly relevant to the claims and defenses at issue in this case. 

Indeed, HomeAdvisor, Inc. has repeatedly argued that the calls transcribed and attached to 
 

 

 

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Complaint Counsel’s Motion for Summary Decision are insufficiently representative of all sales 

calls. Thus, it is HomeAdvisor, Inc.’s own litigation position which makes this production vital 

to the litigation. Our proposal below seeks to address that objection and your client’s 

simultaneous claims of burden in retrieving additional recordings. However, as discussed on 

today’s call, your client’s suggestion that it be permitted to select a smaller population of more 

recent calls is not viable, as such a proposal would permit your client to unilaterally limit the 

scope of discovery to a recent period for claims that extend back several years. 

That said, in order to expedite resolution of this matter without need for motions practice, 

Complaint Counsel will accept the Quality Assurance Recordings as a sufficient production in 

response to Request for Production 14 if: 

1. HomeAdvisor, Inc. represents that the Quality Assurance Recordings consist of all extant 

recorded calls from its internal Quality Assurance process from the period of May 1, 

2019 through October 31, 2019 for which quality assurance forms exist (i.e., the search 

parameters would identify all such calls and no calls from this population have been 

withheld); 

2. HomeAdvisor, Inc. represents that no retention or deletion policy or procedures have 

resulted in any particular category of recorded call being omitted from the Quality 

Assurance Recordings (e.g., calls resulting in termination); and 

3. HomeAdvisor, Inc. stipulates that the Quality Assurance Recordings are representative of 

all sales calls from the period of May 1, 2019 through October 31, 2019. 

We ask that you either 1) agree to the above three conditions and commit to producing 

the Quality Assurance Recordings as well as associated documents responsive to Requests for 

Production 15 and 16 by August 5, 2022, or 2) you commit to producing by August 5, 2022, all 

recordings from the relevant period regardless of whether associated quality assurance forms 

exist. Please provide us with your final position by August 2, 2022, so that we can determine 

whether a motion to compel is necessary. 

First Set of Interrogatories. As we discussed on the call, we understand that 

HomeAdvisor, Inc. intends to produce additional data responsive to Interrogatory No. 1 by 

August 5, 2022. At the time of that production, we understand HomeAdvisor, Inc. intends to 

identify with a chart the tables which are explicitly responsive to each interrogatory and subpart. 

Pursuant to Rule of Practice 3.35(c), we request that you ensure that this chart indicates with 

specificity where within (such as which column(s) and/or row(s)) each identified table the 

responsive information can be found, as our position is that, because the data has been produced 

according to HomeAdvisor, Inc.’s internal taxonomy rather than rendered for general 

consumption, failure to provide sufficient information to decipher the data you have produced 

will impose substantially greater burden on Complaint Counsel in deriving or ascertaining the 

answers to Interrogatories. 
 

 

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If you have additional questions regarding the substance or manner of these productions, 

please let us know. We are available if needed for a further meet and confer next week. 

Otherwise, we look forward to receiving your response by August 2, 2022, and the productions 

outlined above by August 5, 2022. 

Sincerely, 

s/ Colin D. A. MacDonald 

Colin D. A. MacDonald 

Cc: All Counsel of Record (by email) 
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EXHIBIT H 
 

 

 

 

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quinn emanuel trial lawyers | new york 

51 Madison Avenue, 22nd Floor, New York, New York 10010-1601 | TEL (212) 849-7000 FAX (212) 849-7100 

WRITER'S DIRECT DIAL NO. 

(212) 849-7651 

WRITER'S EMAIL ADDRESS 

neilphillips@quinnemanuel.com 

August 2, 2022 

VIA E-MAIL 

Colin D. A. MacDonald, Esq. 

Federal Trade Commission, Northwest Region 

915 Second Ave., Suite 2896 

Seattle, WA 98174 

cmacdonald@ftc.gov 

Re: In the Matter of HomeAdvisor, Inc. FTC Docket No. 9407 

Dear Colin: 

We write on behalf of HomeAdvisor, Inc. in response to your July 29, 2022 letter regarding 

HomeAdvisor’s responses and objections to Complaint Counsel’s Second Set of Requests for 

Production and First Set of Interrogatories. We are available to meet and confer as needed at your 

convenience. 

I. Complaint Counsel’s Second Set Of Requests For Production 

As referenced in your letter, HomeAdvisor is in the process of collecting several thousand 

quality assurance audio recordings, which we intend to produce by the end of this week. These 

recordings are in addition to the approximately 2,000 recorded sales calls produced during the CID 

process, along with any additional audio files that may be produced in connection with Complaint 

Counsel’s extraordinary demand, if appropriately narrowed, for “All data, including call 

transcripts, from the CallMiner software, regarding telephone calls between Your sales agents” in 

their most recent set of document requests. See Complaint Counsel’s Third Set of Document 

Requests, No. 23. 

Notwithstanding this reasonable and proportionate production, Complaint Counsel persist 

in their unreasonable demand for “recordings of all telephone calls” with service providers that 

took place from May 1, 2019 through October 31, 2019, “all records and/or data pertaining to the 

telephone call[s],” and “any quality assurance assessments, evaluations, or grading of Your sales 

agent’s performance during the specific telephone call.” See Complaint Counsel’s Second Set of 

Document Requests, Nos. 14–16. Whether or not the “plain reading” of Complaint Counsel’s 

requests “requires production of recordings from the relevant period regardless of whether 

quinn emanuel urquhart & sullivan, llp 

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associated quality assurance forms exist (or ever existed)” is not the focus: proportionality and 

burden guide the inquiry here. See, e.g., 16 C.F.R. § 3.31(c)(2) (discovery “shall be limited” 

where, inter alia, material sought is “unreasonably cumulative or duplicative”; is available from 

another more convenient, less burdensome, or less expensive source; or imposes undue burden); 

Prasad v. George Washington Univ., 323 F.R.D. 88, 91 (D.D.C. 2017) (discussing amendment to 

Fed. R. Civ. 26 to “emphasize the need for proportionality in discovery and to ‘encourage judges 

to be more aggressive in identifying and discouraging discovery overuse’”); The Sedona 

Conference, Commentary on Proportionality in Electronic Discovery, 18 Sedona Conf. J. 141, 147 

(2017) (“Achieving proportionality in civil discovery is critically important”).1 

Courts thus routinely reject sweeping “all documents” demands like Complaint Counsel’s 

here. See, e.g., J White, L.C. v. Wiseman, 2020 WL 3507408, at *2 (D. Utah June 29, 2020) 

(“Courts within the Tenth Circuit have noted that discovery requests may be facially overbroad 

when they use terms such as ‘any and all,’ ‘referencing,’ or ‘pertaining to’ with respect to a broad 

category of documents.”); C.D.S. Inc. v. Zetler, 2016 WL 11651898, at *2 (S.D.N.Y. Dec. 14, 

2016) (holding “all documents” requests were “plainly overbroad and impermissible”); Henry v. 

Morgan’s Hotel Grp., Inc., 2016 WL 303114, at *2 (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 25, 2016) (“Blanket requests 

of this kind are plainly overbroad and impermissible.”); Rice v. Reliastar Life Ins. Co., 2011 WL 

5513181, at *2 (M.D. La. Nov. 10, 2011) (“Furthermore, it has been held that a request for ‘any 

and all documents’ relating to a particular subject is overbroad and amounts to little more than a 

fishing expedition.”). HomeAdvisor’s purported “litigation position” regarding the sales call 

recordings produced in discovery does not “make[] this production vital to the litigation,” and 

Complaint Counsel’s own one-sided litigation position does not make their requests any less 

disproportionate, burdensome, or overbroad. 7/29/22 Ltr. at 2. 

Complaint Counsel’s position is unreasonable for other reasons as well, and 

mischaracterizes our July 29 meet and confer. During our July 29 conferral, we described the 

enhanced burden in attempting to retrieve additional sales call recordings from several years ago, 

and offered to discuss producing the same volume of audio files from a later period in time, which 

would be easier to retrieve. After you claimed HomeAdvisor was attempting to “unilaterally limit 

the scope of discovery to a recent period,” 7/29/22 Ltr. at 2, we advised that Complaint Counsel 

could themselves select a more recent timeframe for production that we would consider in good 

faith. We noted that Complaint Counsel had not indicated there was any identifiable distinction 

between sales calls that occurred in 2019 and those taking place today, and thus no material 

difference would exist in the production. Particularly so because, as we also stated during our 

conferral, this is a proceeding for prospective, injunctive relief, and Complaint Counsel’s case 

theory is that the harm that it asserts began in 2014 is continuing unabated to this day. Complaint 

Counsel’s response, however, revealed the true motivating force behind these requests: their 

unfounded belief that calls from 2019 will be better for their case and transparent desire to 

precipitate a discovery dispute to extract baseless concessions by leveraging the burden of 

 “Where the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure are similar to the Commission’s Rules of Practice, 

those rules and case law interpreting them may be useful, though not controlling, in adjudicating 

a dispute.” In the Matter of Impax Lab’ys, Inc., F.T.C. Docket No. 9373, 2017 WL 2570856, at 

*3 (June 12, 2017) (Chappell, Chief Administrative Law Judge). 

2 

1
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retrieving older recordings. HomeAdvisor therefore does not agree to Complaint Counsel’s 

inappropriate “conditions.” 7/29/22 Ltr. at 2. 

At the same time, however, Complaint Counsel cannot unilaterally declare an impasse with 

respect to its second set of document requests. See 7/29/22 Ltr. at 2 (“Please provide us with your 

final position by August 2, 2022, so that we can determine whether a motion to compel is 

necessary.”). As we repeatedly stated during our July 29 conferral, HomeAdvisor continues to 

investigate these requests and the burden associated with providing additional sales call audio 

recordings for the requested time period. We are optimistic that we will conclude our investigation 

by August 5, 2022, and intend to provide Complaint Counsel with further information at that time. 

II. Complaint Counsel’s First Set Of Interrogatories 

Notwithstanding your sudden demand that we produce—“no later than July 28, 2022,” four 

business days after your July 22 letter was sent at 8:44 PM ET on a Friday —a “key” purportedly 

necessary to understand HomeAdvisor’s data production, we agreed to create and provide a chart 

that lists each of the tables produced, along with an identification of each interrogatory and subpart 

to which it responds. See 7/22/22 Ltr. from B. Roos at 3; 7/28/22 Ltr. from N. Phillips at 2. During 

our July 29 conferral, you agreed to receive this chart, but sought additional information regarding 

the columns within each table. While we continue to dispute your expansive characterization of 

16 CFR § 3.35(c), we will supplement the chart to include an identification of tables along with 

the column in each table serving as a primary key between the tables, which will provide 

Complaint Counsel with sufficient information regarding the data produced. 

Sincerely, 

/s/ Neil T. Phillips 

Neil T. Phillips 

3 
PUBLIC FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION | OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY | FILED 8/4/2022 | Document No. 605238 | PAGE Page 178 of 178 * PUBLIC *; 

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE 

I hereby certify that on August 4, 2022, I filed the foregoing document electronically 

using the FTC’s E-Filing system, which will send notification of such filing to: 

April Tabor 

Office of the Secretary 

Federal Trade Commission 

Constitution Center 

400 Seventh Street, SW, Suite 5610 

Washington, D.C. 20024 

ElectronicFilings@ftc.gov 

The Honorable D. Michael Chappell 

Administrative Law Judge 

Federal Trade Commission 

600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Rm. H-110 

Washington, DC 20580 

I further certify that on August 4, 2022, I caused the foregoing document to be served via 

email to: 

William A. Burck 

Dawn Y. Yamane Hewett 

Kyra R. Simon 

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP 

1300 I Street NW, 9th Floor 

Washington, DC 20005 

(202) 538-8000 

williamburck@quinnemanuel.com 

dawnhewett@quinnemanuel.com 

kyrasimon@quinnemanuel.com 

Counsel for Respondent HomeAdvisor, Inc. 

Dated: August 4, 2022 

Stephen R. Neuwirth 

Jennifer J. Barrett 

Neil T. Phillips 

George T. Phillips 

Jared Ruocco 

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP 

51 Madison Avenue, 22nd Floor 

New York, NY 10010 

(212) 849-7000 

stephenneuwirth@quinnemanuel.com 

jenniferbarrett@quinnemanuel.com 

neilphillips@quinnemanuel.com 

georgephillips@quinnemanuel.com 

jaredruocco@quinnemanuel.com 

By: s/ Colin D. A. MacDonald 

Colin D. A. MacDonald 

Counsel Supporting the Complaint