The company engaged in pricing tactics that harmed customers, the department said.
LivCor, one of the largest landlords in the United States, has entered into a proposed consent decree with the Department of Justice (DOJ) to resolve price manipulation claims made by the department, the DOJ said in a Dec. 23 statement.
On Jan. 7, the DOJ announced it was suing tech company RealPage and six landlords, including LivCor, which operates under asset management company Blackstone. The department accused the landlords of using RealPage’s software to participate in algorithmic pricing schemes that harmed renters.
In its latest statement, the DOJ said LivCor and other landlords “shared competitively sensitive data to generate pricing recommendations using RealPage’s algorithms, which also included anticompetitive rules that aligned their pricing.”
“In addition, LivCor and other landlords discussed competitively sensitive topics—including pricing strategies, rents, and selected parameters for RealPage’s software—directly with each other,” it said.
The tactics aimed to decrease competition among landlords with regard to apartment pricing, thereby harming millions of renters in the United States, the DOJ said in January.
RealPage’s actions ended up enriching itself and the landlords “at the expense of renters who pay inflated prices and honest businesses that would otherwise compete,” the department said in its lawsuit.
The proposed consent decree between the DOJ and LivCor prohibits algorithmic coordination and the exchange of sensitive data with competitors.
LivCor is required to refrain from taking part in or attending meetings involving competing landlords that are hosted by RealPage. The company must also cooperate with the United States’ claims against other defendants in the case.
In the case that LivCor uses a third-party pricing algorithm not certified in line with the terms of the consent decree, it must allow a court-appointed monitor, the department said.
The decree must now be approved by the court.
“The Trump-Vance Administration is committed to an economy that works for all Americans,” said Assistant Attorney General Abigail Slater from the DOJ’s Antitrust Division.
“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.”
The Epoch Times reached out to LivCor for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.
The agreement with LivCor follows the DOJ’s obtaining consent decrees from RealPage and two of the landlords from the January complaint—Cortland Management LLC and Greystar Management Services LLC.
