DOJ Reached Settlement With LivCor Over Alleged Anticompetitive Rents

The Justice Department has reached a proposed settlement with LivCor as part of the department’s drive to halt what it alleged is a scheme among landlords to collaborate on setting rents.

The U.S. and state co-plaintiffs filed a complaint against LivCor and five other landlords in January, alleging that they engaged in anticompetitive practices, including using each other’s competitively sensitive information through common pricing algorithms operated by RealPage to set rents, the Justice Department said in a Tuesday (Dec. 23) press release.

The proposed settlement would require LivCor to refrain from using anticompetitive algorithms, refrain from sharing competitively sensitive information with competitors, accept a court-appointed monitor if it uses an uncertified third-party pricing algorithm, refrain from participating in RealPage-hosted meetings of competing landlords, and cooperate with the United States’ claims against other defendants, according to the release.

Reached by PYMNTS, a spokesperson for LivCor said in an emailed statement: “We are pleased to have reached an agreement with DOJ that fully resolves DOJ’s claims against LivCor in this litigation. The agreement contains no finding of or admission of any wrongdoing. We remain as focused as ever on serving our residents.”

According to the Justice Department press release, the department has already obtained proposed settlements with two other landlords — Cortland Management and Greystar Management Services — and RealPage.

“Landlords across America are on notice that the competition laws protect renters from the harms caused by competitors sharing competitively sensitive information or aligning prices, whether through an algorithm or otherwise,” Abigail Slater, assistant attorney general of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, said in the release.

It was reported in November that Greystar agreed to a $7 million settlement with nine states that accused the company of relying on rent-setting software tools that contributed to rising housing costs. The company had already consented to pay $50 million to settle a class action lawsuit tied to its use of RealPage’s systems and had entered into a nonmonetary agreement with the Justice Department.

In a statement issued at the time, Greystar said: “We are pleased this matter is resolved and remain focused on serving our residents and clients.”

RealPage reached a proposed settlement with the Justice Department in November, with the Department saying the agreement would, among other things, bar the company from using competitors’ nonpublic data to help determine rental prices.

RealPage said at the time that the agreement “provides resolution and clarity” for customers, emphasized that its software can operate in compliance with federal antitrust expectations, and noted that the settlement does not impose financial penalties or damages and contains no “findings or admissions of wrongdoing.”