The Justice Department says RealPage’s algorithmic pricing software allows landlords nationwide to set rents above market rate and deprives renters of the benefits of competition. THe Texas-based company has denied the allegations.
The Justice Department says RealPage’s algorithmic pricing software allows landlords nationwide to set rents above market rate and deprives renters of the benefits of competition. THe Texas-based company has denied the allegations. (Nam Y. Huh | AP)

The U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday that it is suing the real estate company RealPage, alleging it engaged in a price-fixing scheme to drive up rents.

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Eight states are joining the Justice Department’s antitrust suit. It alleges that RealPage’s algorithmic pricing software lets landlords to effectively collude, and set rents above market rate. The department says this use of artificial intelligence deprives renters of the benefits of competition. It also accuses RealPage of monopolizing the market.

RealPage has pitched its software as maximizing profits. But the Texas-based company has said it’s not anticompetitive and that it lowers rents when demand drops.