WASHINGTON, DC – The Justice Department’s Antitrust Division has reached a proposed settlement with Greystar Management Services LLC, the largest residential landlord in the United States, to resolve claims that it participated in an algorithm-based rent pricing scheme with other major property managers.
Federal prosecutors allege Greystar, which manages nearly 950,000 rental units nationwide, used RealPage’s software to share competitively sensitive data with rival landlords. The data was used to generate coordinated rent pricing recommendations and incorporate rules that aligned competitors’ pricing. The complaint also claims Greystar and other companies held direct discussions about rents, pricing strategies, and RealPage software parameters.
Under the proposed consent decree, Greystar must stop using any anticompetitive pricing algorithm based on competitors’ sensitive data, avoid sharing such information with rivals, refrain from attending RealPage-hosted competitor meetings, and accept a court-appointed monitor if it uses certain third-party pricing tools. The company must also cooperate in the government’s ongoing monopolization case against RealPage.
The agreement will be published in the Federal Register, triggering a 60-day public comment period before the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina decides whether to approve it.
——
Key Points
- Greystar accused of using RealPage’s algorithm to coordinate rental prices with competitors
- Proposed settlement bars use of anticompetitive pricing tools and competitor data sharing
- Court review follows a 60-day public comment period under the Tunney Act
