The nation’s largest private landlord Greystar, which has a handful of properties in Reno, namely the Ballpark Apartments (in photo), Aspen Ridge, Fifteen51, Inova and The Highlands, has reached a proposed settlement with the federal government following a lawsuit in which it was accused of rent increase collusion by using certain computer algorithms.
As part of terms of the settlement, the South Carolina-based company agreed to help federal prosecutors in their separate case against the makers of RealPage, the software used by many landlords to share their pricing data with each other so they could collectively increase rents.
The proposed consent decree which still needs to be approved by a federal judge will also require Greystar to avoid using any anticompetitive algorithms and to refrain from sharing sensitive information with competitors going forward.
"Whether in a smoke-filled room or through an algorithm, competitors cannot share competitively sensitive information or align prices to the detriment of American consumers," said Assistant Attorney General Abigail Slater of the Justice Department's Antitrust Division.