Acting Associate Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer Delivers Remarks on the Justice Department’s Lawsuit Against RealPage for Algorithmic Pricing Scheme that Harms Millions of Americans

Remarks as Prepared for Delivery

Thank you, Deputy Attorney General Monaco.

I would like to reiterate the Attorney General’s and the Deputy Attorney General’s thanks to the leadership and staff of the Antitrust Division. They have exhibited the utmost professionalism and dedication throughout the long-running investigation that led to today’s complaint.

This civil action against RealPage exemplifies the Department’s commitment to combatting anticompetitive practices that increase the prices Americans pay on a daily basis. The complaint alleges that RealPage uses its software to collect and share landlords’ competitively sensitive information about rental prices, projected vacancies, and lease terms. The software then feeds landlords daily pricing recommendations, taking the guesswork out of understanding what competing landlords are doing. As a result, landlords can align rental prices, and tenants are limited in their ability to successfully negotiate counteroffers or seek discounts.

This type of conduct is egregious. But it is unfortunately not limited to the rental housing industry. We’ve seen unfair and illegal pricing practices in many different industries, and staff in the Antitrust Division — and the Department more broadly — are working tirelessly to combat these practices wherever they arise.

For example, the Antitrust Division is currently litigating a challenge against a company that we allege uses similar strategies to facilitate information sharing among meat processors, leading to higher prices for kitchen staples like chicken, turkey, and pork. And the Division recently shut down another information exchange that helped processors to suppress wages and benefits for employees working in poultry processing plants.

Separately, in the criminal antitrust context, we’ve worked to root out price-fixing conduct among pharmaceutical companies. Last year, we reached resolutions with two drug companies that admitted to fixing the prices of essential medicines used to lower cholesterol and treat eye and skin infections. Those resolutions required the companies to donate $50 million in drugs, pay $255 million in criminal penalties, and divest the drug product lines that were a core part of the conspiracy.                                

We’ve also seen unfair pricing practices in the transportation industry. Our Civil Division and U.S. Attorneys’ Offices have prosecuted individuals for hiking the prices of used cars by rolling back odometer readings and falsifying vehicle titles. And the Civil Division has also sued companies for forcing car buyers to pay for expensive insurance that they do not want or need.

The Department remains committed to fighting these and other unlawful pricing practices regardless of how and where they might arise. Today’s suit against RealPage reflects our continued commitment to promoting competition and advancing economic opportunity and equity.

I’ll now turn it over to Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter.