Six of the largest US landlords have been accused colluding to raise rents using property management software RealPage.
Last week, the US Department of Justice announced it had filed an amended complaint to its antitrust lawsuit against RealPage in order to sue the six landlords.
The landlords named are Greystar Real Estate Partners LLC (Greystar); Blackstone’s LivCor LLC (LivCor); Camden Property Trust (Camden); Cushman & Wakefield Inc and Pinnacle Property Management Services LLC (Cushman); Willow Bridge Property Company LLC (Willow Bridge) and Cortland Management LLC (Cortland).
Jordan Ash, director of housing at PESP, said: “As more and more Americans struggle with the cost of putting a roof over their heads, corporate landlords were allegedly colluding to raise rents ever higher.
“Everyday Americans can’t keep up with the cost of rent. Homelessness is skyrocketing. Folks are choosing between medicine and a place to live.
“We applaud the Department of Justice for taking decisive action to hold profiteers like Blackstone accountable.”
Blackstone is attracting the most attention, as the USA’s largest landlord with around 350,000 rental units.
The corporate landlord has faced years of scrutiny from advocates for its poor treatment of tenants.
In August, the Private Equity Stakeholder Project (PESP) and the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE) published a report examining how Blackstone has profited from rent hikes and ramped up evictions in California.
In 2021, Blackstone acquired 5,800 rental units in the San Diego area. Since then, the landlord increased the rent at these properties 38% — almost double the 20% average rent increase for all apartments in the San Diego market during this period.
The rent increase at some Blackstone-owned buildings was especially high – up to 79%.
The report also noted how Blackstone touted to investors multiple times how the firm’s real estate investments benefit from declining new supply of housing, a key driver of the affordable housing crisis.