Dive Brief:
- Camden Property Trust has reached a $53 million settlement in multidistrict class-action litigation in Tennessee federal court that accused the REIT and dozens of the country’s biggest landlords of using RealPage’s property management software to coordinate rent increases, according to an April 7 U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
- The Houston-headquartered REIT is the latest operator to agree to pay to resolve claims that it conspired to artificially inflate multifamily residential rents through the use of RealPage’s algorithmic pricing software. The settlement is subject to court approval, and Camden does not admit fault or liability.
- Camden said in the SEC filing that it believes resolving the antitrust suit now will allow it to “avoid the significant costs and distraction of protracted litigation” and focus on its business objectives. The sum will fund class member recoveries, plaintiffs’ legal fees and settlement administration costs.
Dive Insight:
The agreement includes prospective commitments regarding Camden’s business practices, including provisions relating to the disclosure and use of nonpublic data and use of revenue management software, all of which Camden believes will not require material changes to current operations, per the SEC filing.
“The Company also believes the settlement will reduce meaningful legal uncertainty and risk associated with complex antitrust litigation, including potential exposure under joint and several liability principles,” according to the filing. Camden also said it “intends to continue to vigorously defend any other pending litigation related to the use of revenue management software not covered by this settlement agreement.”
Multifamily Dive reached out to Camden for additional comment, but did not hear back by publication time.
Camden is just the latest company to agree to settle in wide-ranging litigation regarding the use of algorithmic pricing that named many of the biggest landlords in the U.S. in recent years.
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 it can use it.
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.
Camden’s settlement payment will be made in two equal installments of $26.5 million, per the SEC filing. The REIT said it does not expect the settlement payments to impair its credit rating or materially impact its liquidity, leverage ratios or debt covenant headroom, and believes the settlement payments are manageable within its overall capital plan.
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