Some of the defendants, such as Greystar, the biggest apartment owner in the U.S., and Cushman & Wakefield, have already faced private-sector lawsuits from tenants and prosecutors alleging that they colluded on rent increases using the RealPage algorithm.
Those private cases could get a boost now that the federal government is publicly suing these landlords with parallel claims, said Diana Moss, vice president and competition policy director at the Progressive Policy Institute.
The DOJ’s expanded lawsuit creates a “mutually reinforcing effect of public and private enforcers working together,” she said.
