Attorney General Schwalb Secures $1.4 Million from Two DC Landlords Involved in RealPage Rental Price-Fixing Scheme

Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb today announced that Avenue5 Residential, LLC (Avenue5) and Bell Partners, Inc. (Bell Partners) will pay a total of $1.4 million and change their business practices as part of separate settlements that resolve allegations that the companies conspired with other landlords, using pricing software from RealPage, Inc., to inflate rents at over 50,000 apartment units throughout the District. In the District, Avenue5 owns 667 units and Bell Partners, at the time the lawsuit was filed, owned more than 1,300 units.

"Rent in the District is already unaffordable for too many DC residents, and with help from RealPage, these landlords illegally pushed rents even higher," said Attorney General Schwalb. "Avenue5 and Bell Partners deserve credit for being among the first to come to the table and reform their anticompetitive rent-setting practices. We will continue working to hold RealPage and all the remaining defendant landlords accountable to ensure that DC's housing market is fair, competitive, and free of illegal collusion."

Background on RealPage

RealPage offers a variety of technology-based services to real estate owners and property managers, including revenue management (RM) products that rely on non-public, competitively sensitive pricing data that RealPage receives from the owners and managers. RealPage leverages this confidential data to estimate supply and demand for multifamily housing that is specific to particular geographic areas and unit types and then generates an inflated rental price that maximizes the landlord's revenue.

In the District, well over 30% of apartments in multifamily buildings (i.e., buildings with five or more units), and approximately 60% of units in large multifamily buildings (with 50+ units), have been priced using RealPage's software. This leaves many District residents with no choice but to pay RealPage's inflated rents.

OAG's Settlements with Avenue5 and Bell Partners

OAG alleged that Avenue5 used RealPage's RM software to set rents for three of its properties in the District, and Bell Partners used RealPage's software to set rents for two DC properties. As a part of RealPage's price-fixing cartel, Avenue5, Bell Partners, and 12 other defendant landlords illegally coordinated to share sensitive, non-public company data, avoiding direct competition and delegating rent-setting authority to RealPage.

Under the terms of two separate settlement agreements, Avenue5 and Bell will:

• Pay $1.4 million to the District. Avenue5 and Bell Partners will each pay $700,000 in civil penalties, money to impacted residents, and legal fees.
  
• Reform rent-setting practices to prohibit the use of revenue management software that relies on any non-public or confidential data from other companies.
  
• Refrain from encouraging others to use revenue management software to accept recommended rent prices and from promoting the use of this type of software to other property owners.
  
• Stop sharing non-public information with other landlords or property managers that can be used to collude in the way defendants previously did.

If OAG learns that Avenue5 or Bell Partners may not be complying with the terms of this settlement, it will appoint an Independent Monitor, at no cost to the District, to evaluate the company's compliance and determine additional penalties if violations are confirmed.

The District's settlement agreement with Avenue5 is available here.

The District's settlement agreement with Bell Partners is available here.

These matters were handled by Assistant Attorneys General Ashley Walters and Mehreen Imtiaz, and overseen by Adam Gitlin, Chief of the Antitrust and Nonprofit Enforcement Section.

In June 2025, OAG announced its first settlement in the RealPage lawsuit with W.C. Smith.

Resources for Tenants

OAG works to ensure that residents across the District have access to safe and affordable housing and holds landlords accountable if they violate the law. Tenants can access OAG's resources for guidance on how to report problems with a landlord or with housing conditions. Tenants may send complaints about housing conditions to [email protected].

OAG's Antitrust Enforcement Actions

OAG has a long track record of holding companies accountable for antitrust violations that harm District consumers. In addition to filing the first government lawsuit against RealPage and 14 defendant landlords, OAG filed the first government lawsuit to challenge certain anticompetitive pricing policies by Amazon. OAG has also worked with state and federal partners to secure multiple antitrust wins against Google, recently played a leading role in winning a jury verdict against Live Nation for monopolizing the live entertainment industry, and has successfully opposed anticompetitive mergers such as those between Kroger and Albertsons and JetBlue and Spirit.

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