DOJ settles antitrust case with property management company over rental pricing algorithms

The Justice Department’s Antitrust Division has filed a proposed settlement with Willow Bridge Property Company LLC, resolving the United States’ claims against the company as part of a broader enforcement action targeting alleged algorithmic coordination, the use of competitors’ competitively sensitive data and other anticompetitive practices in rental markets, according to the department. The case is part of ongoing litigation in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina.

The settlement follows earlier agreements the department reached with RealPage Inc. and three other major landlords — Cortland Management LLC, Greystar Management Services LLC. and LivCor LLC — in the same case, the department said.

According to a Jan. 7, 2025, complaint, Willow Bridge and five co-defendant landlords allegedly engaged in a scheme to set rents using one another’s competitively sensitive information through pricing algorithms. The complaint alleges Willow Bridge and the other landlords shared that data to generate pricing recommendations using RealPage’s software, whose algorithms included anticompetitive rules that aligned pricing across properties. The complaint also alleges the landlords discussed competitively sensitive topics directly, including pricing strategies, rents and software parameters.

Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward said affordability for American consumers depends on companies making independent pricing decisions and that companies cannot share sensitive data and manipulate AI tools or algorithms to produce market-aligned pricing because doing so is illegal and harms Americans’ everyday housing needs.

Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole Sarrine of the Antitrust Division said corporate landlords have been destabilizing the rental housing market for too long and that the division will remain proactive in taking affirmative measures to stop pricing algorithms from harming renters.

Under the proposed consent decree, Willow Bridge would be barred from using algorithms that generate pricing recommendations based on competitors’ competitively sensitive data or that incorporate certain anticompetitive features, the department said. The company also would be prohibited from sharing competitively sensitive information with competitors and from attending or participating in RealPage-hosted meetings involving competing landlords. If Willow Bridge uses a third-party pricing algorithm that is not certified under the settlement’s terms, it would be required to accept a court-appointed monitor. The company also would be required to cooperate with the government’s ongoing claims against the remaining defendants.

As required under the Tunney Act, the proposed settlement and an accompanying competitive impact statement will be published in the Federal Register, the department said. The public has 60 days after publication to submit written comments to Danielle Hauck, acting chief of the Antitrust Division’s Technology and Digital Platforms Section. After the comment period closes, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina may enter final judgment if it determines the settlement is in the public interest.

Willow Bridge is a residential property manager headquartered in Dallas, Texas.