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Nation’s biggest landlord agrees to stop using anticompetitive algorithm to set rents • Minnesota Reformer [1]

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Date: 2025-08-11

The country’s biggest landlord, Greystar, has reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice to stop using algorithms based on competitors’ data to set rent prices.

Greystar manages more than 950,000 rental units nationwide, including 34 properties in the Twin Cities and Rochester, according to the company’s website.

ProPublica reported in 2022 that some of the biggest landlords in the country were using an algorithm developed by RealPage to set rents on open units. RealPage’s algorithm uses data collected from its clients — landlords who compete with each other for renters — to create price recommendations.

Following ProPublica’s reporting, U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and other senators asked the Department of Justice to investigate “allegations of anticompetitive collusion leading to significant increases in rents for apartments.” Klobuchar chairs the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust, and Consumer Rights.

“This settlement is good news for renters across the country,” Klobuchar said in a press release, pointing out that the litigation continued even after President Donald Trump took office.

In August 2024, the DOJ and several attorneys general, including Minnesota’s Keith Ellison, sued RealPage for “its unlawful scheme to decrease competition among landlords in apartment pricing and to monopolize the market for commercial revenue management software.”

Government lawyers amended the RealPage lawsuit in January to include six of the country’s largest landlords: Greystar, LivCor, Camden, Willow Bridge and Cortland. The amended complaint accused the landlords of not just using RealPage software, but also communicating directly with their competitors about rents, occupancy, pricing strategies and more.

The proposed settlement, which was agreed to by the DOJ and Greystar, would bar Greystar from using any anticompetitive algorithm that recommends prices based on its competitors’ sensitive data, block the company from sharing sensitive information and require Greystar to cooperate with the ongoing investigation into RealPage.

A federal judge will decide whether to approve the settlement after a 60-day public comment period.

Greystar admitted to no wrongdoing.

“Greystar remains committed to being at the forefront of innovation in service of its clients and residents, all within the bounds of the law,” the company said in a statement.

In April, Minneapolis became the fourth U.S. city to ban rent price-fixing algorithms.

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[1] Url: https://minnesotareformer.com/2025/08/11/nations-biggest-landlord-anticompetitive-algorithm-to-set-rents/

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