Key Takeaways:
- Massive Lawsuit: The DOJ sues six of the nation’s largest landlords for using algorithms to artificially inflate rent prices.
- Cortland’s Cooperation: One landlord agrees to a settlement, promising to cease using competitor data for pricing.
- Multi-State Action: Ten states join forces with the federal government in this antitrust battle.
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA
[Durham, North Carolina] 7:58 PM PST – The Justice Department, together with its state co-plaintiffs, filed an amended complaint on January 7, 2025, in its antitrust lawsuit against RealPage, to sue six of the nation’s largest landlords for participating in algorithmic pricing schemes that harmed renters.
The landlords — Greystar Real Estate Partners LLC (Greystar); Blackstone’s LivCor LLC (LivCor); Camden Property Trust (Camden); Cushman & Wakefield Inc and Pinnacle Property Management Services LLC (Cushman); Willow Bridge Property Company LLC (Willow Bridge) and Cortland Management LLC (Cortland) — participated in an unlawful scheme to decrease competition among landlords in apartment pricing, harming millions of American renters. Together, these landlords operate more than 1.3 million units in 43 states and the District of Columbia.
The Attorneys General of Illinois and Massachusetts joined the amended complaint as co-plaintiffs, increasing the total number of State and Commonwealth co-plaintiffs to 10. At the same time, the Justice Department filed a proposed consent decree with landlord Cortland that requires it to cooperate with the government, stop using its competitors’ sensitive data to set rents and stop using the same algorithm as its competitors without a corporate monitor
