DOJ Sues 6 Landlords Over Alleged Algorithm Rent Pricing Scheme

The U.S. Department of Justice building in Washington, on June 28, 2023. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

The Department of Justice (DOJ) said on Tuesday that it is suing six large landlords over alleged anticompetitive practices in housing rental markets, expanding the DOJ’s first case alleging algorithmic collusion.

The DOJ and a coalition of states filed the antitrust lawsuit in North Carolina in August 2024, accusing property management software company RealPage of enabling landlords to collude by sharing pricing information through the company’s software, which then recommends rent prices.

The DOJ alleged the landlords exchanged competitively sensitive information on rents, occupancy rates, and pricing strategies through phone calls, emails, and user groups hosted by RealPage.

The landlords—Cortland Management, Greystar Real Estate Partners, Blackstone’s LivCor, Camden Property Trust, Cushman’s Pinnacle Property Management Services, and Willow Bridge Property—were named as defendants in the amended complaint.

The landlords collectively operate more than 1.3 million rental units across 43 states and the District of Columbia, according to the DOJ.

“Today’s action against RealPage and six major landlords seeks to end their practice of putting profits over people and make housing more affordable for millions of people across the country,” Acting Assistant Attorney General Doha Mekki of the DOJ’s Antitrust Division stated.

The co-plaintiffs in the amended complaint include the attorneys general of Illinois, Massachusetts, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee, and Washington.

“I don’t have to tell anyone, rent is completely unaffordable and out of control right now,” Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said in a Jan. 7 statement. “We are alleging today that some of the nation’s largest landlords—including three operating in Connecticut—rigged the market using unfair algorithmic pricing to suppress competition and jack up costs for millions of renters.”

The DOJ stated that Cortland, which manages more than 80,000 rental units across 13 states, had agreed to cooperate with the department and enter into a proposed settlement.

In an emailed statement to The Epoch Times, a Cortland spokesperson said the proposed settlement will be filed with the court for approval.

“We believe we were only able to achieve this result because Cortland has invested years and significant internal resources into developing a proprietary revenue management software tool that does not rely on data from external, non-public sources,” the spokesperson stated.

Greystar has denied the allegations and stated that it intends to “vigorously defend” itself in the DOJ lawsuit.

“Greystar has and will conduct its business with the utmost integrity. At no time did Greystar engage in any anti-competitive practices,” the company said in a statement.

Camden said it disagrees with the DOJ’s claims and plans to seek dismissal of the lawsuit. The company argued that the allegations stemmed from actions taken during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This was a time when Camden made the decision not to increase renewal rates, to waive late fees, to freeze evictions, and to take the unprecedented step of providing over $10 million in cash directly to our residents to assist them during that uncertain period, no strings attached,” the company said in a statement. “Rental rates are a result of many factors, most importantly government regulations limiting housing supply. When supply is limited by government regulations, rents go up.”

RealPage issued a statement on Dec. 6 saying that the DOJ has closed its criminal probe into pricing practices in the multifamily rental housing sector. The company said the remaining lawsuits filed against it were “based on misinformation and baseless allegations.”

The three remaining landlords did not respond to a request for comment by publication time.

Reuters contributed to this report.