TEXAS, USA — The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) and attorneys general from 10 states are suing six landlords for a pricing “scheme” they say negatively impacted renters.
The amended complaint alleges these landlords discussed private information with their competition to help determine prices, “harming millions of American renters” in the process.
One of the property owners, Greystar, is based in South Carolina but owns a corporate office in Austin. In the document, Austin-Round Rock was named 66 times.
Others listed in the filing are LivCor, Camden Property Trust, Cushman, Willow Bridge and Cortland. These companies rent properties in 43 states, two of which -Willow Bridge and Camden- are based in Texas.
On the opposing side, co-plaintiffs joining the DOJ include AGs in Oregon, Washington, California, Colorado, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Illinois, Connecticut, and North Carolina.
According to the suit, the landlords used property management software called RealPage to share private information, such as rental pricing, number of residents and ways to change price plans.
The suit said Greystar management spoke with Camden regarding renewal costs, pricing plans and more. Greystar’s revenue management director also discussed automatic payment details with someone in the same role at Willow Bridge, according to the suit.
Landlords also allegedly joined RealPage “user groups,” where they would talk about prices and rent cost suggestions.
“While Americans across the country struggled to afford housing, the landlords named in today’s lawsuit shared sensitive information about rental prices and used algorithms to coordinate to keep the price of rent high,” DOJ Antitrust Division acting assistant AG Doha Mekki said.
The department also filed a proposed agreement that would prohibit Cortland from sharing private information, as well as using private details and/or third-party systems to determine pricing.