Property management company, LivCor, to pay $7M to settle illegal rent-fixing lawsuit
DOJ says companies schemed to keep rent high
The U.S. Department of Justice is accusing major property management companies of conspiring to keep rent prices high with anti-competitive practices. FOX 9's Mike Manzoni has the full story.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Minnesota’s attorney general says a major property management company will pay millions and change how it does business after allegedly helping keep rent prices artificially high.
LivCor settlement addresses alleged rent price coordination
What we know:
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, along with attorneys general from eight other states, announced a $7 million settlement with LivCor, LLC on Thursday. The settlement comes after allegations that LivCor used RealPage’s revenue management software to coordinate rent prices with other landlords, sharing confidential pricing information and interfering with normal competition.
Under the settlement, which still needs court approval, LivCor must stop using any software that aligns rent prices using competitors’ private data, stop sharing sensitive pricing information with rivals, and set up an antitrust compliance program.
"It’s hard to afford your life when your landlord is scheming with rival property managers to raise rent prices, instead of competing with those rivals to deliver the best housing possible at the fairest price possible," Ellison said in a statement. "Free and fair competition is the lifeblood of our economy, while anticompetitive practices like those of RealPage and LivCor are a poison that harms our economy and the pocketbooks of Minnesotans."
The settlement also requires LivCor to cooperate in the ongoing prosecution of RealPage and other landlords, and to accept a court-appointed monitor if it uses a third-party pricing algorithm in the future.
LivCor will pay a total of $7 million in penalties and fees to the states involved in the lawsuit. Minnesota will receive $582,746.80 from the settlement.
This is the second settlement in this case, following a similar $7 million agreement with Greystar in November 2025.
How RealPage and LivCor allegedly raised rents
What they're saying:
According to the January 2025 complaint, LivCor and other landlords shared private data and discussed pricing strategies to generate rent recommendations using RealPage’s algorithms. This allowed landlords to set or raise prices in unison, reducing competition and leaving renters with fewer affordable options.
Landlords allegedly knew their data would be used to recommend prices not just for their own units, but also for competitors, and agreed to share information because they expected to benefit from their rivals’ data.
The lawsuit claims these practices let landlords keep prices high, even when market conditions would normally force them to lower rents.
Litigation against RealPage and other property management defendants—Camden, Pinnacle, and Willow Bridge—is ongoing.
Ellison is joined in the settlement by attorneys general from North Carolina, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Oregon and Tennessee.
What we don't know:
It is not yet clear how much of the $7 million penalty will go directly to renters or how the settlement will impact rent prices in the short term. The timeline for final court approval and the outcome of ongoing litigation against RealPage and the other landlords remains uncertain.
Minneapolis passes price-fixing ordinance
Local perspective:
In March, the Minneapolis City Council passed an ordinance banning the use of algorithms in setting rent prices in the city.
The Source: Information in this story comes from the settlement and a press release from the Minnesota attorney General's office.