“This is a huge win for the Justice Department and for renters everywhere.”

“Landlords will no longer be able to avoid competing with each other through shared software, which will bring rents down.”

Washington, DC – In response the Department of Justice and state co-plaintiffs filing an amended complaint in its lawsuit against real estate software provider RealPage for orchestrating a price-fixing cartel via algorithm, Open Markets Institute Chief Economist Brian Callaci issued the following statement:

“In a huge win for the Justice Department, its state co-plaintiffs, and for renters everywhere yesterday, the Department of Justice took a major step towards protecting renters from landlord price-gouging. Amending its earlier complaint against the software provider RealPage for facilitating a landlord cartel through algorithmic price-setting, the complaint now brings the landlords using the software into the lawsuit as well. The Justice Department’s action puts property owners across the country on notice that price-fixing is always illegal, whether it happens in smoke-filled rooms or online. Landlords will no longer be able to avoid competing with each other through shared software, which will bring rents down.

“The plaintiffs also announced that one of the landlords, Cortland, has agreed to enter into a settlement to end its use of collusive rental pricing algorithms and cooperate with the Justice Department.”

The Open Markets Institute has published articles in Harvard Business Review and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution concerning RealPage and its lessons for the housing market. 

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