Justice Department Sues Six Major Landlords Operating 1.3 Million Units for Rent Price-Fixing

Jan 8, 2025, 04:48 AM

The U.S. Department of Justice, along with 10 state attorneys general, has expanded its antitrust lawsuit against RealPage, a real estate software company, to include six of the nation's largest landlords. The amended complaint alleges that these landlords, which operate over 1.3 million units across 43 states and the District of Columbia, engaged in a scheme to artificially inflate rents by using RealPage's pricing algorithm and sharing sensitive competitive information. The landlords named in the lawsuit are Greystar Real Estate Partners, Blackstone's LivCor, Camden Property Trust, Cushman & Wakefield's Pinnacle, Willow Bridge Property Company, and Cortland Management. The Justice Department claims that these practices have harmed millions of renters by reducing competition and keeping rents high. Cortland has agreed to cooperate with the investigation and will be subject to restrictions on how it can use competitors' data and algorithms to set rents.