Justice Department seeks consent decree with Pinnacle in rental pricing case
The Justice Department filed a proposed consent decree to resolve claims against Pinnacle Property Management Services LLC in an antitrust case over rental pricing practices.
The Justice Department filed a proposed consent decree on Sept. 4, 2026, to resolve U.S. claims against Pinnacle Property Management Services LLC in an antitrust enforcement action in the Middle District of North Carolina.
The department said the case is part of its effort to challenge rental pricing practices it says can raise housing costs for consumers. It said the case involves alleged algorithmic coordination, the sharing of competitively sensitive data and other anticompetitive conduct in rental markets.
According to the department’s press release, the United States and state co-plaintiffs filed a complaint on Jan. 7, 2025, against Pinnacle and five other co-defendant landlords. The complaint alleged the landlords used each other’s competitively sensitive information through pricing algorithms to set rents.
The DOJ said Pinnacle and other landlords shared sensitive data to generate pricing recommendations using RealPage’s algorithms. It said those algorithms included anticompetitive rules that aligned pricing, and that landlords also conferred on pricing strategies, rents and selected parameters for the software.
Pinnacle is a residential property manager headquartered in Frisco, Texas, according to the release. The department also said prior settlements in the same enforcement action involved RealPage Inc., Cortland Management LLC, Greystar Management Services LLC, LivCor LLC and Willow Bridge Property Company LLC.
Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward Jr. said the administration will not tolerate illegal actions by corporate landlords that inflate housing prices for Americans. Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole Sarrine said the Antitrust Division protects consumers in housing markets and said the proposed consent decree is an important step toward affordable housing.
Under the Tunney Act, the proposed settlement and a competitive impact statement will be published in the Federal Register. The DOJ said interested persons will have 60 days after publication to submit written comments to Danielle Hauck, acting chief of the Technology and Digital Platforms Section at the Antitrust Division in Washington.
After the comment period, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina may enter final judgment if it finds the settlement is in the public interest.
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