WASHINGTON – The Justice Department has reached a proposed settlement with Willow Bridge Property Company LLC, one of the nation’s largest residential landlords, resolving claims that the company participated in an algorithmic scheme to coordinate rental prices using competitors’ sensitive data, federal officials announced Monday.

The settlement, filed in the Middle District of North Carolina, follows similar agreements in the same enforcement action against RealPage Inc. and three other large landlords: Cortland Management LLC, Greystar Management Services LLC, and LivCor LLC.

According to the government’s January 2025 complaint, Willow Bridge and five other landlord co-defendants engaged in a scheme to set rents using each other’s competitively sensitive information through pricing algorithms. The landlords shared data to generate pricing recommendations using RealPage’s algorithms, which included anticompetitive rules that aligned pricing across properties. The complaint also alleged that Willow Bridge and other landlords communicated on sensitive topics including pricing strategies, rents, and parameters for RealPage’s software.

“Affordability for American consumers is only achieved when competition thrives, which requires companies to make independent pricing decisions,” said Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward. “Companies cannot share sensitive data and manipulate AI tools or algorithms to produce market aligned pricing. That is not only illegal, but exploitative of Americans’ everyday housing needs. This Department will not stand for it.”

Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole Sarrine of the Antitrust Division added: “Corporate landlords have been destabilizing the rental housing market for too long. The Antitrust Division will remain proactive in taking affirmative measures to stop pricing algorithms from harming renters.”

If approved by the court, the proposed consent decree would prohibit Willow Bridge from using any anticompetitive algorithm that generates pricing recommendations using competitors’ sensitive data or incorporates anticompetitive features. The company would also be barred from sharing competitively sensitive information with competitors and from attending or participating in RealPage-hosted meetings of competing landlords.

The settlement would require Willow Bridge to accept a court-appointed monitor if it uses a third-party pricing algorithm not certified under the consent decree, and to cooperate with the United States’ claims against other defendants.

Willow Bridge, a residential property manager headquartered in Dallas, Texas, is one of the largest landlords in the country. The proposed decree will be published in the Federal Register under the Tunney Act, with a 60-day public comment period before final court approval.

Back in 2025, The Justice Department’s Antitrust Division has filed a proposed settlement with Greystar Management Services LLC, the largest landlord in the United States, resolving claims that the company participated in an algorithmic scheme to coordinate rental prices using competitors’ sensitive data, federal officials announced.

Greystar, which manages nearly 950,000 rental units nationwide, was one of several landlords named in the government’s enforcement action against algorithmic coordination and anticompetitive practices in rental markets. According to the complaint, Greystar and other landlords shared competitively sensitive data to generate pricing recommendations using RealPage’s algorithms, which included rules that aligned competitors’ pricing. The landlords also discussed pricing strategies, rents, and software parameters directly with one another.

If approved by the court, the proposed consent decree would prohibit Greystar from using anticompetitive algorithms that generate pricing recommendations using competitors’ data or incorporate anticompetitive features. The company would also be barred from sharing sensitive information with competitors and from attending RealPage-hosted meetings of competing landlords. The settlement would require Greystar to accept a court-appointed monitor if it uses a third-party pricing algorithm not certified under the decree, and to cooperate with the government’s monopolization claims against RealPage.

RealPage, the software company at the center of a federal antitrust lawsuit over algorithmic rent-setting, has agreed to stop using nonpublic competitor data to recommend rental prices, marking a significant resolution in a case that began with a 2022 ProPublica investigation.

The 2022 ProPublica investigation revealed that RealPage was helping landlords coordinate rents in ways that legal experts said could constitute cartel-like behavior, prompting dozens of tenant lawsuits and federal scrutiny. The Biden Justice Department filed an antitrust complaint against RealPage in 2024 and later sued six of the nation’s largest landlords—including Greystar, the country’s biggest rental manager—accusing them of using the software to improperly raise rents. Prosecutors said one landlord reported raising rents more than 25% within 11 months of adopting the software.

Note: See the Proposed Final Judgment here, the Stipulation and Order here, and the Competitive Impact Statement here.