RealPage, one of the largest property management software companies in the country, is settling an antitrust lawsuit with the Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division, according to two separate releases from the DOJ and RealPage yesterday.
In August of 2024, the DOJ along with attorneys general in eight states sued RealPage, alleging that after a two-year investigation they had found evidence that the company was using complicated algorithms to facilitate price fixing between landlords. These types of algorithms have also been targeted with legislative bans.
The terms of the settlement, which still must be approved by a judge, do not require RealPage to admit wrongdoing or “financial penalties,” according to RealPage. Instead, the company must “(c)ease having its software use competitors’ nonpublic, competitively sensitive information to determine rental prices in runtime operation,” according to the DOJ.
RealPage will also cooperate as the DOJ pursues legal action against major property management companies that used RealPage’s software, the DOJ said, and also cease collecting certain types of data or use “active lease data” to train its models, and retrain existing models.
“This resolution marks an important milestone for RealPage, our customers, and the multifamily industry,” said Dirk Wakeham, RealPage president and CEO, in a statement. “Through it all, our teams remained focused on serving customers and advancing the technology the industry relies on every day.”
RealPage added that these changes were “already made or planned” by the company.
Abigail Slater, assistant attorney general for the DOJ’s Antitrust Division, said in a statement that the government is still wary of the kind of practice RealPage allegedly promulgated through its products.
“Competing companies must make independent pricing decisions, and with the rise of algorithmic and artificial intelligence tools, we will remain at the forefront of vigorous antitrust enforcement,” she said.
While RealPage has consistently denied that it broke any laws, critics have alleged that allowing rental property managers to utilize each other’s proprietary data to set rents amounted to price fixing, and the DOJ had also claimed that RealPage pushed landlords to “auto-accept” its price recommendations. Back in 2024, the White House had estimated that these algorithmic pricing tools cost renters $3.8 billion in 2023.
“This is about moving forward with clarity, with confidence, and with a continued focus on building the future of housing technology,” Wakeham said. “Our mission remains the same: to lead responsibly, innovate boldly, and help shape a stronger, more efficient rental housing market that benefits both renters and housing providers.”
