Greystar Reaches Deal in Justice Department’s Rental Market Collusion Case

Greystar Real Estate Partners LLC reached a tentative settlement with the Department of Justice in an antitrust lawsuit accusing the landlord of colluding to increase rents across the US, in part, through widely used industry software.

As part of the deal, Greystar is barred from generating pricing recommendations derived from algorithms using competitively sensitive data, sharing competitive information with competitors and must cooperate in the government’s case against the rental market software and data company RealPage Inc.

The DOJ sued Thoma Bravo LLC-backed RealPage a year ago, accusing it of assisting in a price-fixing conspiracy via software that helps landlords maximize rental income. At the end of the Biden administration, the DOJ added South Carolina-based Greystar and other companies including Cushman & Wakefield Plc, Camden Property Trust and Blackstone Inc.’s LivCor LLC. At that time, it also reached a deal with Cortland Management LLC.

“Greystar firmly believes that its use of RealPage’s revenue management software complies with all applicable laws,” the company said in a statement Friday. The company said it didn’t admit wrongdoing as part of the settlement.

The lawsuit was the Justice Department’s first big algorithmic collusion case as alleged schemes become more sophisticated through the use of technology.

“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,” DOJ antitrust chief Gail Slater said in a separate statement.

The settlement requires court approval.

RealPage and the remaining companies have a pending motion to dismiss the lawsuit.