Attorney General Bonta Announces $7 Million Settlement with Greystar for Participating in an Algorithmic Rent Alignment Scheme

Greystar, the largest landlord in the United States, manages nearly 950,000 rental units nationwide. 

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta today, as part of a coalition of nine attorneys general, announced a $7 million settlement with Greystar Management Services LLC (Greystar), one of the property management companies named as a defendant in Attorney General Bonta's ongoing antitrust lawsuit against software company RealPage. As part of today's settlement, Greystar agrees to stop using software offered by any company, including RealPage, that uses competitively sensitive information to align rent prices. Greystar also agrees to cooperate in the ongoing prosecution of RealPage and other defendant landlords. Attorney General Bonta alleges that Greystar used RealPage’s revenue management system to align rental prices with competing landlords by illegally sharing and gathering confidential pricing information. 

"Whether it's through smoke-filled backroom deals or through an algorithm on your computer screen, colluding to drive up prices is illegal,” said Attorney General Bonta. “Families across the country are staring down an affordability crisis. Companies that intentionally fuel this unaffordability by raising prices to line their own pockets can be sure I will use the full force of my office to hold them accountable. California is stronger when we protect tenants and a competitive economy.” 

RealPage uses algorithmic models to recommend price increases to subscribers. As alleged the January 2025 complaint, Greystar and other landlords, including five co-defendants, shared competitively sensitive data to generate pricing recommendations using RealPage’s algorithms. Greystar and other landlords discussed competitively sensitive topics — including pricing strategies, rents, and selected parameters for RealPage’s software — directly with each other. Landlords also understood that their nonpublic data would be used to recommend prices not just for their own units, but also for competitors who use the programs, and agree to provide this information because they understood they would benefit from the information of their rivals. In other words, RealPage knew what competing landlords were charging and could increase profits for landlords by using that information to recommend landlords set or raise their prices uniformly, thereby eliminating competition, and leaving renters no choice but to pay artificially high prices.

In California, Greystar manages approximately 333 multifamily rental properties that use RealPage’s pricing software. Over the last four decades, housing needs have significantly outpaced housing production in California. Housing costs have skyrocketed, making it harder for Californians to keep a roof over their heads. California's 17 million renters spend a significant portion of their paychecks on rent, with an estimated 700,000 Californians at risk of eviction.    

Today’s settlement, subject to court approval, requires Greystar to pay $7 million in penalties and fees to the states. Greystar must also:  

•  Refrain from using any anticompetitive algorithm that generates pricing recommendations using its rivals’ competitively sensitive data or that incorporates certain anticompetitive features;
• Refrain from sharing competitively sensitive information with competitors;
• Accept a court-appointed monitor if it uses a third-party pricing algorithm that is not certified pursuant to the terms of the consent decree;
• Refrain from attending or participating in RealPage-hosted meetings of competing landlords; and
• Cooperate with the states’ monopolization claims against RealPage.

Joining Attorney General Bonta in reaching this settlement were the attorneys general of North Carolina, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oregon, and Tennessee.

To learn more about the ongoing lawsuit against RealPage and property management companies Camden, Pinnacle, LivCor, and Willow Bridge please see here.

A copy of the proposed judgment can be found here. 

ANTITRUST AND YOU:

Antitrust enforcement is an essential component of a healthy economy. Competitive marketplaces established through antitrust vigilance help consumers by ensuring fair prices for goods and services, an array of products to choose from, quality goods and services, and the steady introduction of innovative new products. As part of the Attorney General’s commitment to enforce antitrust laws, the California Department of Justice has launched an Antitrust Complaint Form. Please click here to report anticompetitive conduct that potentially violates the antitrust laws.