DOJ Reaches Antitrust Settlement With Major Apartment Manager Over Rent Pricing Practices

According to The Washington Times, which first reported on the proposed agreement, the settlement would resolve the Justice Department’s claims against Willow Bridge while litigation continues against other remaining defendants in the broader rental pricing case.

The Justice Department announced Monday that the proposed consent decree stems from its amended antitrust complaint filed in January 2025, which alleges Willow Bridge and several major landlords participated in a scheme involving RealPage’s revenue management software. Federal prosecutors contend the companies exchanged competitively sensitive information that was used to generate rent recommendations through pricing algorithms rather than independently determining rental rates.

The government argues that the conduct reduced competition among landlords and contributed to higher rents in apartment markets across the United States.

If approved by the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, the settlement would prohibit Willow Bridge from using pricing algorithms that rely on competitors’ confidential pricing information or contain certain features the government considers anticompetitive. The company also would be barred from sharing competitively sensitive information with rival landlords, participating in RealPage-hosted meetings involving competing property owners, and would be required to cooperate with the Justice Department’s continuing litigation against other defendants.

The proposed decree further provides for the appointment of an independent court monitor if Willow Bridge adopts a third-party pricing system that does not meet certification requirements established under the agreement, according to the Justice Department.

In announcing the settlement, Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward said businesses must make pricing decisions independently rather than relying on shared data or artificial intelligence tools that align market prices. Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole Sarrine added that the Antitrust Division intends to continue pursuing cases involving pricing algorithms that allegedly harm renters.

The Willow Bridge agreement represents another step in the Justice Department’s broader enforcement campaign targeting what regulators describe as “algorithmic coordination” in rental housing markets.

The underlying litigation began in August 2024 when the Justice Department sued RealPage, alleging the company’s software facilitated unlawful coordination among competing landlords by combining nonpublic rental information with algorithmic pricing recommendations. The government later expanded the lawsuit in January 2025 to include several of the country’s largest apartment owners and managers, alleging they participated directly in the alleged anticompetitive conduct.

According to the Justice Department, the amended complaint alleges participating landlords supplied confidential information—including rents, occupancy levels and other operational data—that was incorporated into RealPage’s pricing models. Prosecutors also allege executives communicated directly about pricing strategies and software settings, conduct the government says went beyond merely using common software products.

The case has become one of the federal government’s most closely watched antitrust actions involving artificial intelligence and algorithmic pricing tools. Antitrust regulators have increasingly argued that software cannot be used to facilitate coordination that would be unlawful if conducted directly between competitors.

The proposed Willow Bridge settlement follows similar agreements previously reached with RealPage, Cortland Management, Greystar Management Services and LivCor in the same litigation. Those settlements likewise include restrictions on the use of competitors’ confidential data, limitations on pricing software, compliance requirements and cooperation obligations as the government pursues claims against remaining defendants.

Willow Bridge is headquartered in Dallas and manages residential apartment communities across the United States. The company has not admitted liability under the proposed settlement.

Source: The Washington Times