Colorado and several other states have reached a $7 million settlement with one of America’s largest landlords over a lawsuit that accused the company and its peers of using software to illegally coordinate rent prices.
“When corporate landlords share private data and use algorithms to coordinate and jack up rent prices, renters pay the price,” Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said in a statement Tuesday announcing the agreement. “This settlement sends a clear message: We will not tolerate practices that enable collusion, harm competition and make housing less affordable for Coloradans.”
The proposed settlement with Greystar was filed Tuesday morning and still needs final approval from the federal judge overseeing the case, which was initially filed last year. Under the deal’s terms, Colorado would receive more than $1 million “to support antitrust enforcement, consumer protection work, and related investigations,” Weiser’s office said. Greystar would also be prohibited from using any revenue management software that incorporates “nonpublic, competitively sensitive data from other landlords to generate pricing recommendations.”
The rest of the money would be distributed among the other eight states that are part of the lawsuit. Greystar is the largest landlord in the country, according to Reuters, and it reached a separate $50 million settlement last month to end another price-fixing lawsuit brought by tenants. Weiser’s office previously said the company operates more than 45,000 units in Colorado alone.
Greystar did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The suit was initially filed by the the U.S. Department of Justice and Weiser against RealPage, the company that makes the rent-setting software used by Greystar and other property management companies. Greystar and several other large property owners were added to the suit in January.
Greystar settled with the Justice Department in August.
RealPage’s software has been broadly criticized for allegedly enabling price fixing and hiking rents higher than they otherwise would be — charges the company has denied. Last year, the Biden administration said that Denver renters who lived in properties that used RealPage’s software paid more than $1,600 in additional rent every year.
Colorado lawmakers have repeatedly attempted to ban the use of RealPage’s software in the state. A first attempt, in 2024, failed in the state Senate. Democratic lawmakers tried again this year and successfully passed the bill, only for Gov. Jared Polis to veto it.
The state previously reached a settlement with one of the other property owners in April. The rest of the litigation remains ongoing. Weiser’s office is also still suing Greystar in a separate case over alleged hidden fees and misleading advertising, though court filings indicate settlement talks are ongoing.
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