The United States Department of Justice, along with several states, filed a lawsuit against RealPage, Inc. and several landlord companies, claiming they violated antitrust laws. The lawsuit alleges that these companies used RealPage's software to share sensitive rental information to influence and align rental prices, reducing competition and leading to higher rents for tenants. As part of a proposed settlement, Cortland Management, one of the defendants, agreed to stop using RealPage's software and instead use its own revenue management system without sharing sensitive data. The settlement aims to prevent Cortland from engaging in similar anticompetitive behavior in the future.
Simple Explanation
The government is saying that some landlords used a special computer program to secretly talk about prices and make rent more expensive for people. One landlord promised to stop using that program and make sure they don't do anything like that again.