A Biden administration lawsuit alleged RealPage “enabled landlords to collude to raise rents.”

WASHINGTON, DC – Yesterday, Greystar—the nation’s largest corporate landlord—agreed to stop using RealPage, an AI tool accused of price-fixing rents. The move follows a lawsuit filed last year by the Biden administration and the Attorneys General of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee, and Washington, alleging RealPage “enabled landlords to collude to raise rents.”

This is a win for renters who have been squeezed by corporate greed and AI-driven collusion. But with expenses rising, it’s not enough for one company to opt out of collusion. Elected officials must step up and tackle all price-gougers like RealPage.”

Accountable.US Executive Director Tony Carrk

In the first quarter of 2024, Accountable.US found the six largest publicly traded apartment companies brought in nearly $300 million combined in increased profits, many due to rent increases. All six landlords named in the report have faced or are currently facing lawsuits related to their use of troubled property management software company, RealPage.

Accountable.US has sent two rounds of letters to state Attorneys General, the first in November 2023, and the second in 2024 to state Attorneys General in California, Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York, raising concerns that major rental companies may be engaging in illegal rent-price fixing in their states. 

In 2022, Sens. Klobuchar, Durbin, and Booker urged the DOJ to investigate potential anticompetitive conduct affecting apartment rent rates, including RealPage’s pricing algorithms. Sen. Klobuchar has since introduced legislation to protect renters from this predatory pricing.

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