Key Terms of the Greystar Settlement
As part of the court-approved consent judgment, Greystar will implement immediate and long-term changes to its rental pricing practices.
Greystar will pay $7 million to the settling states, which will be distributed for antitrust enforcement and consumer protection efforts.
The settlement bans Greystar from using non-public data from competitors, including through RealPage’s software, to set rents.
Greystar will report to the Attorney General’s Office on its compliance, and the Attorney General will have the ability to participate in inspections and enforce the agreement's terms for five years.
Prohibited Practices for Greystar
Greystar has agreed to stop the following activities:
Using sensitive data from its competitors to help set its pricing model.
Using third-party software or algorithms to price apartments unless under the supervision of a court-appointed monitor.
Sharing or using any competitively sensitive data from other landlords and property managers to set rent prices or generate recommended rent prices.
Attending or participating in RealPage-hosted meetings of competing landlords.
Attorney General Jackson's Statement
Attorney General Jackson emphasized the impact of the settlement on NC renters:
“This settlement means that more than 25,000 renters in North Carolina are going to be charged fairer prices for rent at a time when housing costs are overwhelming,” said Attorney General Jeff Jackson.
“Companies can’t use new technology, like AI, to break the law and hurt customers. If they try, we’ll take them to court.”
Continuing Litigation and AI Task Force
The bipartisan case against the other four landlords and the software company RealPage is still active. The lawsuit alleges RealPage created a pricing algorithm that used competitively sensitive information to inflate rent prices above what competitive market forces would set. Collectively, the remaining defendants own or manage over 70,000 units in North Carolina.
In a related effort, Attorney General Jackson and Utah Attorney General Derek Brown recently launched a nationwide bipartisan AI task force to develop safeguards against AI harms to consumers, such as those related to rent-setting.
Settling Attorneys General: North Carolina, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oregon, and Tennessee.
The next step in this matter is to await the outcome of the ongoing case against RealPage and the remaining landlords.
WNCTimes