Colorado joins Justice Department in suing landlords for pricing scheme harming millions of renters
DENVER, Colo. (KRDO) – Colorado is one of 10 states now joining a federal lawsuit accusing six of the nation's largest landlords of participating in algorithmic pricing schemes that harmed renters, the Colorado Attorney General's office announced Tuesday.
The coalition of states alleges that the landlords – Greystar Real Estate Partners, Blackstone’s LivCor, Camden Property Trust, Cushman & Wakefield and Pinnacle Property Management Services, Willow Bridge Property Company, and Cortland Management – participated in an unlawful scheme to decrease competition in apartment pricing, harming millions of American renters.
The amended complaint states that the six landlords actively participated in a scheme to set their rents by sharing competitively sensitive information about occupancy, pricing strategies and discounts with each other.
Together, the six landlords operate more than 1.3 million units in 44 states and the District of Columbia.
The allegations are part of an ongoing lawsuit against RealPage, a property management software that uses non-public data such as occupancy, lease terms and floorplans to set local price points.
One landlord mentioned in the lawsuit, Cortland, manages over 80,000 rental units in 13 states, including many multifamily apartment buildings in Colorado. Even though the Justice Department also announced that it has reached a settlement with Cortland, Attorney General Phil Weiser said Colorado is not in a position to join it at this time.
“Many Coloradans are struggling to afford housing and pay rent," Weiser said. "We look forward to learning more about the Cortland settlement and are always willing to consider collaborative solutions. As for the other landlords added to the lawsuit, if they engage in irresponsible and harmful conduct that raises rents, they must be held to account."
In August of 2024, Weiser joined the Justice Department in suing RealPage alleging that the company enables collusion between landlords and distorts the housing market for millions of Americans who rent.
RealPage uses non-public, competitive data collected from competing landlords and feeds it to an algorithm to provide pricing recommendations back to landlords. According to Weiser, the software tracks the supply of available apartments, and landlords in markets with heavy demand can use this information to keep properties off the market and drive up rents.
The attorneys general of Illinois and Massachusetts joined the amended complaint, along with the original plaintiff states California, Colorado, Connecticut, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee, and Washington.
