North Carolina has settled a lawsuit with one of six landlords it accused of using artificial intelligence software to collude and “sidestep” market competition, and illegally set rents. Attorney General Jeff Jackson announced Tuesday that his office had reached a deal with Atlanta-based private-equity Cortland, which manages over 5,000 units across dozens of apartment communities across the state. In January, the state sued six landlords, accusing them of illegally working together, using AI from a company called RealPage, which is also a property management company. RealPage developed an algorithm that allowed the companies to set rents for approximately a third of one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and Charlotte. Under the settlement, Cortland agreed to stop using sensitive data from its competitors, either through RealPage’s software or by other means, to inform its pricing model. It must also submit to regular compliance inspections. “One less landlord is using RealPage’s unlawful AI software,” Jackson said in a release. In addition to Cortland, the lawsuit includes Greystar, Blackstone’s LivCor, Camden Property Trust, Cushman & Wakefield, Pinnacle Property Management Services and Willow Bridge Property. Together, these landlords own or manage more than 70,000 units throughout the state. The state alleges that these landlords communicated with RealPage and each other to share non-public information about rent prices, occupancy, strategies for setting rents, and discounts – “resulting in higher prices for rent than competitive market forces would have set.” The case expanded a previous antitrust lawsuit filed with the federal government and seven other states last August, accusing the Texas-based RealPage of an “unlawful information-sharing scheme.” Jackson said the case against the five other landlords and RealPage continues. “We’re going to keep fighting this case to make sure all landlords and property managers play by the rules and people can afford rent,” he said. North Carolina has some 1.4 million renters, and the gap between wages and housing costs is growing. The fair market rate for a two-bedroom rental home was $1,646 in 2024. A minimum wage worker would have to work 4.4 full-time jobs to pay that rent, according to a new report released by the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

NC reaches settlement with landlord in antitrust case alleging rent collusion

North Carolina has settled a lawsuit with Cortland, a private-equity firm managing over 5,000 units across the state, in an antitrust case alleging rent collusion. The settlement requires Cortland to stop using sensitive data from competitors in its pricing model and submit to regular compliance inspections. The case also involves other landlords like Greystar, Blackstone’s LivCor, Camden Property Trust, Cushman & Wakefield, Pinnacle Property Management Services, and Willow Bridge Property, who own or manage more than 70,000 units. The lawsuit accuses these landlords and RealPage, a property management company, of using artificial intelligence to share non-public information about rent prices, occupancy, and discounts, leading to higher rents than market forces would set.