PESP statement on Department of Justice action against private equity landlord Blackstone for alleged rental price-fixing scheme

Last week, the Department of Justice announced it had filed an amended complaint to its antitrust lawsuit against RealPage in order to sue six of the largest U.S. landlords for their alleged participation in a nationwide rental price-fixing scheme. According to the complaint, the six landlords allegedly coordinated their rents with each other through use of RealPage’s pricing algorithms and direct communication with competitors about rents and occupancy, among other tactics. Of those six landlords, three are owned by private equity firms: Blackstone, Greystar Real Estate Partners, and Cortland Management.

Blackstone, the nation’s largest landlord, with around 350,000 rental units, has faced years of scrutiny from advocates for its poor treatment of tenants. In August, the Private Equity Stakeholder Project (PESP) and the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE) published a report examining how Blackstone has profited from rent hikes and ramped up evictions in California. In 2021, Blackstone acquired 5,800 rental units in the San Diego area. Since then, the report showed, Blackstone has increased the rent at these properties 38% — almost double the 20% average rent increase for all apartments in the San Diego market during this period. The rent increase at some Blackstone-owned buildings was especially high – up to 79%. The report also noted how Blackstone touted to investors multiple times how the firm’s real estate investments benefit from declining new supply of housing, a key driver of the affordable housing crisis.

“As more and more Americans struggle with the cost of putting a roof over their heads, corporate landlords were allegedly colluding to raise rents ever higher,” said Jordan Ash, Director of Housing at PESP. “Everyday Americans can’t keep up with the cost of rent. Homelessness is skyrocketing. Folks are choosing between medicine and a place to live. We applaud the Department of Justice for taking decisive action to hold profiteers like Blackstone accountable.”