US Justice Department accuses six major landlords of scheming to keep rents high

abcnews.go.com:

The U.S. Justice Department is suing several large landlords for allegedly coordinating to keep Americans’ rents high

DENVER — The U.S. Justice Department is suing several large landlords for allegedly coordinating to keep Americans’ rents high by using both an algorithm to help set rents and privately sharing sensitive information with their competitors to boost profits.

The lawsuit arrives as U.S. renters continue to struggle under a merciless housing market, with incomes failing to keep up with rent increases. The latest figures show that half of American renters spent more than 30% of their income on rent and utilities in 2022, an all-time high.

That means exhausting, day-to-day decisions between medications, groceries, school supplies and rent. It means eviction notices and protracted court cases in which children face the highest eviction rates, with 1.5 million evicted each year, according to Princeton University's Eviction Lab.

While the housing crisis has been assigned several causes, including a slump in homes built over the last decade, the Justice Department's lawsuit claims major landlords are playing a part.

The department, along with 10 states including North Carolina, Tennessee, Colorado and California, is accusing six landlords that collectively operate more than 1.3 million units in 43 states and the District of Columbia of scheming to avoid lowering rents.

The landlord Greystar Real Estate Partners LLC, a defendant in the case, declined a request for comment from The Associated Press, but published an unsigned statement on its website.

“Greystar has and will conduct its business with the utmost integrity. At no time did Greystar engage in any anti-competitive practices,” the statement read. “We will