The Justice Department said RealPage’s algorithmic pricing software allowed landlords nationwide to set rents above market rates and deprive tenants of competition. The Texas-based company has denied the allegations.
Nam Y. Huh/AP
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Nam Y. Huh/AP
The U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday that it is suing real estate company RealPage, accusing the company of engaging in a price-fixing conspiracy to raise rents.
The attorneys general of eight states — North Carolina, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Minnesota, Oregon, Tennessee and Washington — have joined the Justice Department’s antitrust lawsuit filed in federal court in North Carolina.
This is the latest move targeting the company’s software algorithms. The lawsuit alleges that RealPage’s algorithmic pricing allows landlords to collude and set rents above market rates.
“Americans should not have to pay more for rent because a company found a new way to conspire with landlords to break the law,” U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement. “We allege that RealPage’s pricing algorithm allowed landlords to share confidential, competitively sensitive information and manipulate their rents.”
The Justice Department said this use of artificial intelligence deprives renters of the benefits of competition. It also accused RealPage of monopolizing the market.
RealPage has touted its software as maximizing landlord profits. But the Texas-based company says it is not anti-competitive and will reduce rents when demand drops.
