The Justice Department’s Antitrust Division filed a proposed settlement today to resolve the United States’ claims against Greystar Management Services LLC as part of its ongoing enforcement against algorithmic coordination and other anticompetitive practices in rental markets across the country.
Greystar, the largest landlord in the United States, manages almost 950,000 rental units across the country. As alleged in Plaintiffs’ complaint, Greystar and other landlords, including five co-defendants, shared competitively sensitive data to generate pricing recommendations using RealPage’s algorithms, which also included anticompetitive rules that aligned competitors’ pricing. In addition, Greystar and other landlords discussed competitively sensitive topics — including pricing strategies, rents, and selected parameters for RealPage’s software — directly with each other.
“American greatness has always depended on free-market competition, and nowhere is competition more important than in making housing affordable again,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “We will continue to vigorously pursue President Trump’s pro-consumer agenda.”
“The Trump-Vance Administration is committed to promoting competition to help working class Americans pay for life’s necessities — including rent,” said Assistant Attorney General Abigail Slater of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “Whether in a smoke-filled room or through an algorithm, competitors cannot share competitively sensitive information or align prices to the detriment of American consumers.”
If approved by the court, the proposed consent decree would require Greystar to:
Refrain from using any anticompetitive algorithm that generates pricing recommendations using its competitors’ competitively sensitive data or that incorporates certain anticompetitive features;
Refrain from sharing competitively sensitive information with competitors;
Accept a court-appointed monitor if it uses a third-party pricing algorithm that is not certified pursuant to the terms of the consent decree;
Refrain from attending or participating in RealPage-hosted meetings of competing landlords; and
Cooperate with the United States’ monopolization claims against RealPage.
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