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….