The U.S. Department of Justice and eight states have sued the property management software company RealPage, accusing the firm of helping landlords collude to drive up the cost of rent. The firm collects rental information from competing corporate landlords and then uses algorithms to set rents. Attorney General Merrick Garland accused the firm of violating the Sherman Antitrust Act.

Attorney General Merrick Garland: “When the Sherman Act was passed, an anti-competitive scheme might have looked like robber barons shaking hands at a secret meeting. Today, it looks like landlords using mathematical algorithms to align their rents.”