Dive Brief:
- Equity Residential has joined a slew of apartment firms agreeing to settle in a class-action lawsuit accusing dozens of the country’s biggest landlords of using RealPage’s property management software to coordinate rent increases, per a government filing
- The Chicago-based REIT agreed to a $56 million settlement in multidistrict class-action litigation in federal court in Tennessee, according to an April 13 U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
- EQR said in its SEC filing that it believes resolving the antitrust suit now will allow it to avoid the costs and distractions of prolonged litigation, enabling the REIT to focus on its business objectives. It also believes the settlement will reduce “meaningful legal uncertainty and risk associated with complex antitrust litigation.”
Dive Insight:
Earlier this month, Camden Property Trust also agreed to a settlement to resolve claims that it conspired to artificially inflate multifamily residential rents through the use of RealPage’s algorithmic pricing software.
In EQR’s filing, the REIT said that the settlement agreement did not constitute an admission of any fault or liability. In addition, EQR said it “continues to vigorously defend against the District of Columbia,” in a separate suit.
The agreement includes prospective commitments regarding EQR’s business practices, including provisions relating to the disclosure and use of nonpublic data and use of revenue management software, all of which the REIT believes will not require material changes to current operations, per the SEC filing.
In connection with the settlement, EQR expects to increase its loss contingency reserve, which will reflect all amounts it expects to need to resolve the class-action litigation. It does not anticipate that the settlement payment will have a material impact on its liquidity, credit ratings, investment and financing plans or operations.
Multifamily Dive reached out to Equity Residential for additional comment, but did not hear back by the time of publication.
EQR is the latest company to agree to settle in wide-ranging litigation regarding the use of algorithmic pricing.
In late 2022 and early 2023, a slew of class-action lawsuits were filed against Richardson, Texas-based RealPage and approximately 50 of the largest apartment owners and operators. In April 2023, those cases were centralized in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee in a case called In Re: RealPage, Inc., Rental Software Antitrust Litigation.
Dozens of property management firms, including the country’s largest landlord, Greystar, agreed in October 2025 to resolve the allegations that they conspired with rivals to inflate rental prices. Plaintiffs reached 26 class settlements worth more than $141.8 million combined, court documents show. Mid-America Apartment Communities settled its part of the lawsuit in January for $53 million, according to an SEC filing.
In November 2025, RealPage reached an agreement with the U.S. Justice Department to settle a separate 2024 lawsuit that claimed the software provider enabled landlords to collude to raise rent prices beyond free-market levels. The agreement, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, included no financial penalties or admissions of wrongdoing, but put guardrails around what data the firm can collect and how to use
At the time, RealPage said the settlement boosts confidence for the housing industry and demonstrates that its revenue management software can be used in compliance with the views of federal antitrust enforcers.
Click here to sign up to receive multifamily and apartment news like this article in your inbox every weekday.
