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The Department of Justice filed a proposed settlement Monday to resolve its claims against Willow Bridge Property Co., one of the country's largest apartment managers. The United States et al. v. RealPage et al. federal antitrust case alleges that Willow Bridge violated the Sherman Act, which prohibits unfair monopolies, with its use of RealPage's rent price-setting software.
The agreement, filed July 6 in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, is part of the DOJ's ongoing enforcement against algorithmic coordination, use of competitively sensitive data and other anticompetitive practices in rental markets, per a Monday press release from the agency. The deal does not include financial penalties and must still get a judge's approval.
The lawsuit alleges that six landlords used RealPage's algorithmic pricing software to fix rents by illegally collecting and sharing confidential pricing information, enabling them to unfairly set prices in tandem rather than independently as competition laws require. Multifamily Dive reached out to Willow Bridge for comment but did not hear back by publication time.
The Justice Department and eight states filed the initial civil antitrust lawsuit against RealPage on Aug. 23, 2024, and amended their complaint on Jan. 7, 2025, to add Willow Bridge and five other apartment management companies as defendants: Greystar, LivCor, Camden Property Trust, Cushman & Wakefield and its subsidiary Pinnacle Property Management Services as well as Cortland Management.
The Department of Justice filed a proposed settlement Monday to resolve its claims against Willow Bridge Property Co., one of the country's largest apartment managers. The United States et al. v. RealPage et al. federal antitrust case alleges that Willow Bridge violated the Sherman Act, which prohibits unfair monopolies, with its use of RealPage's rent price-setting software.
The agreement, filed July 6 in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, is part of the DOJ's ongoing enforcement against algorithmic coordination, use of competitively sensitive data and other anticompetitive practices in rental markets, per a Monday press release from the agency. The deal does not include financial penalties and must still get a judge's approval.
The lawsuit alleges that six landlords used RealPage's algorithmic pricing software to fix rents by illegally collecting and sharing confidential pricing information, enabling them to unfairly set prices in tandem rather than independently as competition laws require. Multifamily Dive reached out to Willow Bridge for comment but did not hear back by publication time.
The Justice Department and eight states filed the initial civil antitrust lawsuit against RealPage on Aug. 23, 2024, and amended their complaint on Jan. 7, 2025, to add Willow Bridge and five other apartment management companies as defendants: Greystar, LivCor, Camden Property Trust, Cushman & Wakefield and its subsidiary Pinnacle Property Management Services as well as Cortland Management.
4 months ago
