Klobuchar Statement on RealPage Lawsuit Announcement

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) released the following statement on the announcement that the Justice Department amended its lawsuit against RealPage to include six large landlords that collectively operate 1.3 million rental units across 43 states and DC that use RealPage’s algorithmic rent-setting tools.
“RealPage has used its algorithms to help landlords fix rental prices and limit competition, driving up the cost of housing for families already struggling to make ends meet. I called on the Justice Department to investigate RealPage, and I am glad to see they are taking an aggressive approach by expanding their lawsuit to include corporate landlords using this modern-day price-fixing tool. I will continue the fight to pass my bill that will strengthen antitrust law to prevent algorithmic collusion. We must lower housing costs by ensuring renters get the full benefits of competition.”
In November 2022, Klobuchar, along with Senators Durbin and Booker,
urged the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate
potential anticompetitive conduct affecting apartment rent rates, voicing their concern that RealPage’s pricing algorithms could artificially inflate rental rates and facilitate collusion.
As Chair of the Competition Policy, Antitrust and Consumer Rights subcommittee, Klobuchar held two hearings in late 2023 exploring how algorithms can be used to harm consumers, including
Examining Competition and Consumer Rights in Housing Markets
and
The New Invisible Hand? The Impact of Algorithms on Competition and Consumer Rights
. Both hearings highlighted the potential for laundering nonpublic competitor data in a pricing algorithm to raise prices and included calls for the reforms in this bill.
In February 2024, Klobuchar introduced the
Preventing Algorithmic Collusion Act
to strengthen current price fixing law Klobuchar’s legislation will:
Close a loophole in current law by presuming a price-fixing “agreement,” when direct competitors share competitively sensitive information through a pricing algorithm to raise prices;
Increase transparency by requiring companies that use algorithms to set prices to disclose that fact and give antitrust enforcers the ability to audit the pricing algorithm when there are concerns it may be harming consumers;
Ban companies from using competitively sensitive information from their direct competitors to inform or train a pricing algorithm;
Direct the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to study pricing algorithms’ impact on competition.
The Preventing Algorithmic Collusion Act is endorsed by the Open Markets Institute and American Economic Liberties Project.
Klobuchar joined Senator Wyden in introducing the
Preventing the Algorithmic Facilitation of Rental Housing Cartels Act
to ensure that large landlords cannot skirt antitrust law and collude to increase rent prices across the country.
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