The Biden administration has made cracking down on anti-competitive activity a cornerstone of its domestic economic agenda. | Drew Angerer/Getty ImagesThe Justice Department is gearing up to challenge what it says is collusive conduct in the rental housing market with a lawsuit against a software company that it believes allows large landlords to fix prices.
The Biden administration has made cracking down on anti-competitive activity a cornerstone of its domestic economic agenda, and antitrust enforcers at the DOJ and Federal Trade Commission are key to that goal. High housing costs, with President Joe Biden in his State of the Union Address in March calling out rental prices, saying, “For millions of renters, we’re cracking down on big landlords who break antitrust laws by price-fixing and driving up rents.
last month, RealPage sought to “correct factual inaccuracies that have been reported related to its revenue management software and its impact on renters.” The company said the allegations distract from a housing affordability problem in the U.S. It said landlords have full discretion over pricing and are never punished for declining the software’s recommendations. It does not recommend that landlords withhold vacant units from the market and says all data is fully anonymized.