Greystar Real Estate Partners, Blackstone’s Libcor, and Cushman & Wakefield are accused of fixing rental prices to the detriment of “millions” of renters Be one of the landlords.
Whether you’re refining your business model, mastering new technology, or finding a strategy to take advantage of the next market boom, Inman Connect New York prepares you to take a bold step. The next chapter is about to begin. Please join us. Join us and thousands of other real estate leaders from January 22-24, 2025.
The U.S. Department of Justice has added six major landlords to its ongoing antitrust case against rental software maker RealPage, officials announced Tuesday.
The amended complaint charges the landlords with participating in an “unlawful scheme that reduces competition among landlords in apartment pricing and harms millions of American renters,” according to a statement from the Justice Department. It was added to . The landlords are also accused of attempting to set rents using “each other’s competitively sensitive information through a common pricing algorithm.”
A total of six landlords manage 1.3 million homes across the United States.
Greystar Real Estate Partners Blackstone’s LivCor Camden Property Trust Cushman & Wakefield Inc and Pinnacle Property Management Services Willow Bridge Property Company Cortland Management
“We are disappointed that the Department of Justice has added our company and other businesses to its lawsuit against RealPage,” Greystar said in a statement to Inman on Tuesday.
“Greystar has and will continue to operate with the utmost integrity,” the statement added. “Greystar has not engaged in any anti-competitive conduct, and we will vigorously defend this lawsuit.”
Inman will update this article with statements from other companies in response to requests for comment.
The Justice Department first announced the antitrust case in August. At the time, federal authorities accused RealPage of using a rental pricing algorithm that effectively allowed landlords to share information and fix prices. The case is the first major antitrust case to directly target an algorithm, and Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement in August that “the use of software as a sharing mechanism means that this scheme is not subject to the Sherman Act.” shall not be exempted from liability.”
RealPage, for its part, has denied wrongdoing and accused the Justice Department of trying to “scapegoat pro-competitive technology that has been used responsibly for years.” The company reiterated its position last month when the Justice Department announced it had closed a separate criminal investigation into apartment rent-setting.
The antitrust case against RealPage is still ongoing, and six landlords are also currently targeted by the Feds. In addition to citing an alleged price-fixing “scheme,” the Justice Department said in a statement Tuesday that the landlords were “in contact with senior executives at competitors regarding rent matters” and that executives were investigating pricing practices. He criticized him for participating in a group hosted by RealPage that discusses things like that.
In addition to announcing the newly amended complaint on Tuesday, the Justice Department also said in a statement that it had reached a settlement with Cortland. The resolution would prohibit Cortland from using competitors’ competitive data to train or run pricing models.
It also prohibits the company from using third-party pricing software to set rents without a court-appointed supervisor and prohibits it from sharing rents with other property management companies for pricing purposes. be done.
The resolution, known as a consent decree, still needs court approval to become final.
Cortland said in a statement to Inman on Tuesday that he was “pleased to announce” the resolution. The company also noted that a criminal investigation had concluded, and its conclusion was that “Cortlandt and its employees are the subject of a criminal investigation that prompted the Department of Justice’s May 2024 raid of Cortlandt’s headquarters in Atlanta. He said that means “no longer.”
“We believe that we were able to achieve this result because Cortland has invested years and significant internal resources in developing proprietary revenue management software tools that do not rely on data from external, private sources. ” the statement continued. “The terms of the Cortland settlement have been agreed to with the Department of Justice and will be submitted to the court for approval. We continue to explore opportunities to invest in the company and look forward to concluding the federal investigation in 2025.”
In addition to the Department of Justice, the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee, and Washington also joined the lawsuit as co-plaintiffs.
Read the amended complaint here (if the document does not load, please refresh the page).
Update: This article has been updated since publication with a statement from the companies named as defendants.
Email Jim Dalrymple II
