AG reaches settlement on use of RealPage software
Cortland is the second-largest North Carolina landlord of the ones Jackson sued, with more than 5,000 units. Once the settlement is entered by the court, Cortland will stop using non-public data from other landlords, either through RealPage's software or by other means, to set rents, making this one of the first settlements to restrict a major landlord from unlawfully using RealPage, according to a release.
'Today's settlement means one less landlord is using RealPage's unlawful AI software to charge North Carolinians unfair rents,' Jackson said. '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.'
As a result of this settlement with Jackson and Colorado's AG Philip J. Weiser, Cortland will:
* Stop using sensitive data from its competitors to inform its pricing model.
* Not use third-party software or algorithms to price apartments, unless they do so under the supervision of a court-appointed monitor.
* Cease sharing or using any competitively sensitive data from other landlords and property managers to set rent prices or generate recommended rent prices.
The agreement requires Cortland to report on its efforts to comply with the consent judgment, allows the attorneys general to conduct inspections to ensure Cortland is in compliance, and, if necessary, permits the AGs to enforce the terms of the agreement in court or extend the term of the agreement.
Jackson's case from Jan. 7 against the other five landlords and software company RealPage continues. It includes AGs from California, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oregon, Tennessee and Washington.
Jackson is suing RealPage for allegedly exploiting landlords' competitively sensitive information to create a pricing algorithm that inflated rent prices and violated antitrust laws. Jackson 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.
These landlords own or manage more than 70,000 units throughout the state.
The alleged illegal conduct harms North Carolinians who are struggling to pay rent and stay in their homes as rental prices increase, and they harm landlords who are trying to play fairly and follow the rules, according to the release.
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