CHARLOTTE — A North Carolina judge approved a settlement between the Department of Justice and RealPage, a data company accused of violating antitrust laws to raise rents for tenants across the country.
The nearly 40-page final judgement contains several stipulations RealPage must adhere to, including no longer using confidential and non-public information gathered by the company to help landlords set rent prices.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE:
- Did a company ‘collude’ with property managers to increase rent prices?
- DOJ accuses RealPage of violating antitrust laws through scheme to hike rents
- DOJ forcing Greystar to stop sharing information with competitors
- ‘It’s insane’: Tenants react to lawsuit against landlords accused of using AI to raise rent prices
This settlement is only between the U.S. Department of Justice and RealPage -- Channel 9 confirmed with the North Carolina Attorney General’s Office that the state’s case is still active and ongoing.
Several years ago, former Attorney General Josh Stein began an investigation into RealPage and joined a federal lawsuit against RealPage for using confidential data provided by landlords to artificially inflate rent prices.
“Companies cannot collude to illegally raise rents on tenants. My investigation into RealPage will shed light on whether this company’s operations violate the law and raise rental costs for residents,” Stein said in 2024.
Attorney General Jeff Jackson continued Stein’s fight to help level the playing field for renters and sued six real estate management companies for their use of RealPage in January 2025.
Jackson alleged landlords used RealPage to set the rent prices for approximately a third of all one-and-two-bedroom apartments in the Charlotte, Raleigh, and Durham metro areas.
He said using the software “harms North Carolinians who are struggling to pay rent and stay in their homes as rental prices increase, and they harm landlords who are trying to play fairly and follow the rules.”
The settlement is one of many that have targeted rental companies and the use of big data and confidential information to raise rent prices across the country.
Last year, one of the largest landlords in the nation, Greystar, which operates several apartment complexes across the Charlotte region, settled a lawsuit with several states, including North Carolina, for $7 million. In that settlement, Greystar agreed not to use RealPage to set rental prices.
While the settlement does not require the admission of any wrongdoing by RealPage, the company has agreed to stop using unaffiliated data in its operations to calculate rental prices.
Channel 9 has reached out to RealPage for a statement on the settlement agreement. As of publication time, the company has not responded.