Legal director Sandeep Vaheesan states that RealPage's software "essentially amounts to a cartel" by enabling landlords to coordinate rent increases, thereby reducing competition and harming tenants.

The Justice Department filed an antitrust lawsuit on Friday against the real estate software company RealPage, saying its software enabled landlords to collude to raise rents across the United States.

The suit, joined by North Carolina, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Minnesota, Oregon, Tennessee and Washington, accuses RealPage of facilitating a price-fixing conspiracy that boosted rents beyond market forces for millions of people. It’s the first major civil antitrust lawsuit where the role of an algorithm in pricing manipulation is central to the case, Justice Department officials said.

“Americans should not have to pay more in rent because a company has found a new way to scheme with landlords to break the law,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.

A RealPage spokeswoman, Jennifer Bowcock, said the company would “vigorously” defend itself against the suit and that its revenue management software was “purposely built to be legally compliant.”

Read full article here.