DOJ settlement bars landlords from using RealPage rent-pricing software to coordinate pricing with confidential tenant data

The Department of Justice announced a proposed settlement with RealPage on Nov. 24, 2025 to resolve antitrust claims that the 🤠Texas-based software company facilitated 'algorithmic collusion' among landlords to drive up rent prices. The settlement followed a yearlong federal antitrust lawsuit launched during the Biden administration, with ten states - 🌴California, 🏔️Colorado, 🦞Connecticut, 🌽Illinois, 🏛️Massachusetts, 🦆Minnesota, 🌲North Carolina, 🌲Oregon, 🎸Tennessee and 🌲Washington - joining the DOJ's lawsuit. Assistant Attorney General GSGail Slater said 'RealPage was replacing competition with coordination, and renters paid the price.' The settlement must still be approved by a federal judge. RealPage wouldn't have to pay any damages or admit any wrongdoing. The White House estimated in 2024 that algorithmic pricing tools like RealPage's cost renters $3.8 billion in 2023 alone.

The settlement bars RealPage from using real-time, competitively sensitive data from competing landlords when its software generates rent recommendations. Under the terms, the only nonpublic data that can be used to train the software's algorithm must be at least one year old. RealPage cannot provide rental pricing information more narrowly than at a state-wide level, prohibiting geographic modeling below the state level. The settlement requires landlords to remain in control of pricing, meaning 'auto-accept' and similar features would need to be configurable and capable of being overridden. RealPage would not be allowed to incentivize users to adopt its recommended rents. Runtime pricing may only be based on a landlord's own data and publicly available information. A court-appointed monitor will oversee RealPage's compliance for three years after final approval, with sweeping oversight authority over the company's operations.

ProPublica's Oct. 2022 investigation exposed how RealPage's YieldStar software uses an algorithm to suggest rent prices by churning through not only information about the apartment being priced and the property where it's located, but also private data on what nearby competitors are charging - actual rents paid to rivals, not just what they're advertising. Legal experts told ProPublica the software's design and reach raised questions about whether it was helping the country's biggest landlords indirectly coordinate pricing, potentially violating federal law. In one downtown Seattle ZIP code, 70% of more than 9,000 apartments were controlled by just 10 property managers - every one of which used RealPage's pricing software in at least some of its buildings. The investigation ultimately led to DOJ antitrust investigations and lawsuits against both RealPage and MLmajor landlords using the software.

Following ProPublica's 2022 investigation, more than two dozen federal lawsuits were filed by renters alleging antitrust violations by RealPage and more than 40 landlords in multiple states. The lawsuits alleged RealPage facilitated price-fixing by providing landlords with competitors' confidential pricing data through its algorithmic rent-setting software. Tenant advocates argued the software helped landlords set rents in a cartel-like manner, with the algorithm recommending price increases even when vacancies were high. Landlords using RealPage's software allegedly agreed to accept the algorithm's recommendations, reducing competition and keeping rents artificially high across entire metropolitan areas. The civil lawsuits by renters seeking damages are separate from the DOJ settlement and continue to move through courts.

The settlement drew criticism from tenant advocates who called it a 'slap on the wrist.' LHLee Hepner, senior legal counsel for the American Economic Liberties Project, said the settlement is rife with loopholes and believes RealPage can keep influencing the rental market even using only public rather than private data. KAK Agbebiyi of the Private Equity Stakeholder Project pointed to an estimated $4 billion in inflated rents in 2023 alone, arguing RealPage should pay damages to compensate harmed renters. Critics noted that RealPage doesn't have to pay any penalties, unlike many companies that have paid millions in settlements over their use of the software. Tenant advocacy groups argued the settlement allows RealPage to continue operating its core business model while making only minor adjustments to how data is collected and used.

RealPage agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in ongoing lawsuits against property managers that used its software. The DOJ is separately pursuing antitrust cases against MLmajor landlords including Greystar, Camden Property Trust, Cushman & Wakefield, and others for using RealPage's software to coordinate rent increases. These landlord defendants are accused of sharing their confidential pricing data with RealPage and agreeing to accept the algorithm's price recommendations, creating an information-sharing cartel. State attorneys general including from 🌴California, 🗽New York, and 🌲Washington have filed separate lawsuits against landlords and RealPage. The cooperation agreement means RealPage will provide documents and testimony helping prosecutors prove landlords used the software for price-fixing.

The settlement represents the DOJ's first major enforcement action against algorithmic pricing tools that facilitate coordination among competitors. The case established that the use of algorithms and artificial intelligence doesn't shield companies from antitrust liability. GSGail Slater emphasized that 'the rise of AI does not change' the requirement that competing landlords must make independent pricing decisions. The settlement creates a blueprint for how algorithmic pricing tools can operate legally - by using only a company's own historical data and publicly available information, not competitively sensitive real-time data from competitors. Legal experts expect the RealPage settlement to influence antitrust enforcement in other industries using algorithmic pricing, including airlines, hotels, and e-commerce.

Several states that joined the original DOJ lawsuit have not signed onto the settlement and may continue litigating. State enforcers could seek stronger remedies including financial penalties and more restrictive behavioral requirements than the DOJ settlement provides. 🗽New York passed legislation in 2024 specifically targeting algorithmic rent-setting tools, and other states are considering similar laws. The patchwork of federal settlement terms and varying state laws creates uncertainty for the multifamily housing industry about what algorithmic pricing practices are permissible. RealPage still faces billions of dollars in potential damages from civil lawsuits filed by renters in multiple jurisdictions. The company's market value and business model have been significantly damaged by the investigations and litigation even without formal penalties in the DOJ settlement.