North Carolina’s second-largest landlord has agreed to stop using a popular real estate software system to set rent prices, Attorney General Jeff Jackson announced Tuesday.
Jackson sued Cortland Management, Greystar Real Estate, LivCor, Camden Property Trust, Cushman and Wakefield, and Willow Bridge Property Company in January. He argued the companies used RealPage software to share insider information and inflate rents. Jackson added the property managers to existing suit against RealPage, filed in 2024.
Atlanta-based Cortland has agreed to settle claims with North Carolina and nine other states, though it denies wrongdoing. Cortland manages about 5,000 rental units at apartment communities in the Triangle and Charlotte.
"Once the settlement is entered by the court, Cortland will stop using non-public data from other landlords, either through RealPage’s software or by other means, to set rents, making this one of the first settlements to restrict a major landlord from unlawfully using RealPage," Jackson’s office said in a statement.
The company also agreed to pay $100,000 to each state. Jackson and the other attorneys general who brought the suit also reserve the right to conduct inspections to make sure Cortland abides by terms of the settlement.
Jackson said litigation against RealPage and the five other companies will continue. According to federal court records, the remaining companies have motions to dismiss the suit.
Jennifer Bowcock, RealPage's senior vice president for communications, said in a in January that their software is used on fewer than 10% of rental units in the U.S., and that their price recommendations are used less than half the time.
"It's past time to stop scapegoating RealPage — and now our customers — for housing affordability problems when the root cause of high housing costs is the undersupply of housing," Bowcock said.
Meanwhile, RealPage has for banning landlords from using artificial intelligence or algorithms to set rents. New York City, Minneapolis, and Philadelphia have enacted similar bans. City councils in and are considering their own restrictions.
