Lawsuits link Long Island property managers to alleged rent collusion

The Cornerstone at Hauppauge is owned and managed by Greystar, one of three Long Island apartment operators named in federal lawsuits property managers and landlords conspired to inflate rents using RealPage software. Credit: Rick Kopstein
Three companies managing thousands of Long Island apartments are accused in federal lawsuits of conspiring to inflate rents using the property management software RealPage.
The U.S. Department of Justice and 10 states are suing Greystar Real Estate Partners in federal court in Durham, North Carolina, alleging it colluded with other major landlords by sharing competitively sensitive information about rents, violating federal antitrust law.
Earlier this month, the Justice Department announced it had added Greystar and five other large landlords, who do not own buildings on Long Island, to the suit, which was originally filed against RealPage in August.
Greystar, the country's largest landlord and property manager, owns and operates two rental developments in Hauppauge and Port Jefferson Station, and manages nine others.
Two other property managers operating on Long Island — Bozzuto Management and Rose Associates — have been named among 50 companies in a federal class-action lawsuit in Nashville that alleges RealPage, landlords and property managers conspired to raise rents.
The federal lawsuits describe how landlords and property managers allegedly engaged in this conduct nationwide but do not specifically mention the use of RealPage on Long Island.
Bozzuto, Greystar and Rose manage 18 Long Island developments with more than 4,500 units, where rents range from about $2,300 for a studio to more than $5,000 for a two-bedroom unit, according to a Newsday analysis of the lawsuits and property managers’ websites.
Charleston, South Carolina-based Greystar denied the allegations. Greenbelt, Maryland-based Bozzuto did not respond to requests for comment. Manhattan-based Rose Associates, which manages two buildings in Long Beach, said in a statement that the company "did not use RealPage at its Long Island properties."
The future of the Justice Department's case will rest with the Trump administration, and potentially former Florida attorney general Pam Bondi, who is seeking confirmation as attorney general from the U.S. Senate. The Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment.
Local property managers potentially engaging in alleged price-fixing would create an even tougher climate for renters, who already face a lack of affordable rental options because of restrictive zoning rules, said Ian Wilder, executive director of nonprofit fair housing agency Long Island Housing Services in Bohemia.
“People are already suffering in the market, and it’s taking advantage of that suffering to squeeze out additional profit,” Wilder said. “Because if we weren’t so short on housing and affordable housing, the actions, though they still might be illegal, would not necessarily be harming Long Islanders as much as they are.”
The lawsuits have gained significant attention from lawmakers.
In December, the Biden administration's White House Council of Economic Advisers released a report estimating that rental pricing algorithms offered by RealPage and other companies cost U.S. renters more than $3.8 billion. Investigative news website ProPublica first reported on RealPage's dominance in the rental market in October 2022, and subsequent lawsuits have generated news coverage across the country, but Newsday is the first to highlight the defendants' presence in the Long Island rental market.
Gov. Kathy Hochul called out the rent-setting software in her State of the State speech earlier this month, vowing to push for a first-in-the-nation law that would "ban price fixing software that inflates rents," she said.
Dakota Smothergill, 25, rents with his girlfriend in the 489-unit Alston development in Ronkonkoma, which is managed by Bozzuto. He said the rent for their one-bedroom apartment has increased $300 to $2,600 since February 2023 when they moved in. When told of the lawsuits, he said the allegations, if true, would be bad for renters who already face challenges finding affordable apartments on Long Island.
“Maybe it’s creating an environment where everything’s just going up, but we looked around, and we haven’t found anywhere else that was cheaper than what we found here,” he said.
While the rent is expensive, Smothergill, a gas utility locator, said the development has more amenities than others in the area. His goal is to buy a home, but to do so, he and his girlfriend are considering a move to upstate New York.
“If it was cheaper to live here, we definitely want to,” he said.
The Justice Department and federal-class action lawsuits allege landlords and property managers shared nonpublic information with RealPage and used its pricing recommendations to boost revenue.
For example, RealPage's algorithms reflected knowledge of rents, discount offers and occupancy rates for millions of units across the U.S., the Justice Department said in its lawsuit.
The Justice Department said landlords participated "because they understand they will be able to leverage the sensitive information of their rivals in turn,” according to its complaint.
The Justice Department's case is based on the idea that the defendants' sharing of data with RealPage leads to an environment where landlords are less likely to lower rents — or lower them as much as they would if they didn't use this software, said Ronald J. Colombo, a law professor at Hofstra University.
“If I know the secret sauce that goes into how my competitors are setting their prices and know that they’re not going to lower their rents, then I have much less incentive to lower mine," he said.
The Justice Department alleged RealPage took steps to make it easier to accept its recommendations than decline them, including through the use of an auto-accept feature.
The Justice Department also alleged Greystar employees communicated with competitors about pricing, renewal rates and how it used RealPage’s pricing recommendations, according to the lawsuit.
Asked about the allegations, a RealPage spokesperson directed Newsday to a detailed rebuttal of the lawsuits' claims. It notes RealPage customers make their own decisions on rents, can reject the software's recommendations and receive guidance, in some cases, to lower rents or keep them the same.
Greystar said it plans to defend itself in court. "At no time did Greystar engage in any anti-competitive practices," the company said in a statement.
The Federal Trade Commission separately sued Greystar this month, alleging it deceived consumers by advertising monthly rents that failed to mention fees for handling services, such as trash pickup, package deliveries, utilities and smart home features.
Greystar called the FTC's allegations it hid fees from consumers "patently false," noting it advertises the base rent in line with industry practices that allow consumers to compare leases.
"No resident at a Greystar-managed community pays a fee they have not seen and agreed to in their lease," the company said in a statement.
Sixteen of the 18 Long Island buildings managed by Greystar, Bozzuto and Rose are owned by other companies. Those building owners hired the accused property managers to run their developments.
The two exceptions are the 244-unit Vistas of Port Jefferson and the 98-unit Cornerstone at Hauppauge, which Greystar owns and operates.
Other Long Island building owners working with the property managers include AVR Realty Co., BRP Development Corp., Friedkin Property Group, a Goldman Sachs-backed investment fund, RXR Realty, Samson Management, Terwilliger Bartone and Tritec, according to data from CoStar, a commercial real estate data company.
None of those companies are named defendants in either the Justice Department’s case or the federal class-action lawsuit in Tennessee. Both building owners and property managers typically have input in setting rents.
Ronkonkoma-based Tritec has five developments and just under 1,700 units, managed by either Greystar or Bozzuto in Suffolk County, including Alston.
The company has contacted both Greystar and Bozzuto about the allegations, Christopher Kelly, senior vice president of marketing at Tritec, told Newsday in an email.
“Tritec remains committed to ethical business practices and ensuring that all of our properties provide high-quality housing for residents while adhering to all relevant regulations,” Kelly said.
AVR Realty declined to comment. The other building owners did not respond to requests for comment.
Three companies managing thousands of Long Island apartments are accused in federal lawsuits of conspiring to inflate rents using the property management software RealPage.
The U.S. Department of Justice and 10 states are suing Greystar Real Estate Partners in federal court in Durham, North Carolina, alleging it colluded with other major landlords by sharing competitively sensitive information about rents, violating federal antitrust law.
Earlier this month, the Justice Department announced it had added Greystar and five other large landlords, who do not own buildings on Long Island, to the suit, which was originally filed against RealPage in August.
Greystar, the country's largest landlord and property manager, owns and operates two rental developments in Hauppauge and Port Jefferson Station, and manages nine others.
WHAT NEWSDAY FOUND
- Three companies managing Long Island apartments—Greystar, Bozzuto Management, and Rose Associates—are facing federal lawsuits accusing them of using RealPage software to conspire in raising rents, allegedly violating antitrust laws.
- The U.S. Department of Justice, along with 10 states, alleges that the companies shared sensitive rent data to manipulate pricing, harming renters nationwide and worsening the affordable housing crisis.
- Lawmakers are calling for action, including Gov. Kathy Hochul, who is pushing for legislation to ban rent-inflating software. The lawsuits allege nationwide misconduct by landlords and property managers but do not specifically mention RealPage's use on Long Island.
Two other property managers operating on Long Island — Bozzuto Management and Rose Associates — have been named among 50 companies in a federal class-action lawsuit in Nashville that alleges RealPage, landlords and property managers conspired to raise rents.
The federal lawsuits describe how landlords and property managers allegedly engaged in this conduct nationwide but do not specifically mention the use of RealPage on Long Island.
Bozzuto, Greystar and Rose manage 18 Long Island developments with more than 4,500 units, where rents range from about $2,300 for a studio to more than $5,000 for a two-bedroom unit, according to a Newsday analysis of the lawsuits and property managers’ websites.
Charleston, South Carolina-based Greystar denied the allegations. Greenbelt, Maryland-based Bozzuto did not respond to requests for comment. Manhattan-based Rose Associates, which manages two buildings in Long Beach, said in a statement that the company "did not use RealPage at its Long Island properties."
The future of the Justice Department's case will rest with the Trump administration, and potentially former Florida attorney general Pam Bondi, who is seeking confirmation as attorney general from the U.S. Senate. The Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment.
Local property managers potentially engaging in alleged price-fixing would create an even tougher climate for renters, who already face a lack of affordable rental options because of restrictive zoning rules, said Ian Wilder, executive director of nonprofit fair housing agency Long Island Housing Services in Bohemia.
“People are already suffering in the market, and it’s taking advantage of that suffering to squeeze out additional profit,” Wilder said. “Because if we weren’t so short on housing and affordable housing, the actions, though they still might be illegal, would not necessarily be harming Long Islanders as much as they are.”
The lawsuits have gained significant attention from lawmakers.
In December, the Biden administration's White House Council of Economic Advisers released a report estimating that rental pricing algorithms offered by RealPage and other companies cost U.S. renters more than $3.8 billion. Investigative news website ProPublica first reported on RealPage's dominance in the rental market in October 2022, and subsequent lawsuits have generated news coverage across the country, but Newsday is the first to highlight the defendants' presence in the Long Island rental market.
Gov. Kathy Hochul called out the rent-setting software in her State of the State speech earlier this month, vowing to push for a first-in-the-nation law that would "ban price fixing software that inflates rents," she said.

Dakota Smothergill, 25, at the Alston apartment complex in Ronkonkoma, where he said his rent has increased 13% since he moved there in 2023. Credit: Newsday/Jonathan LaMantia
Dakota Smothergill, 25, rents with his girlfriend in the 489-unit Alston development in Ronkonkoma, which is managed by Bozzuto. He said the rent for their one-bedroom apartment has increased $300 to $2,600 since February 2023 when they moved in. When told of the lawsuits, he said the allegations, if true, would be bad for renters who already face challenges finding affordable apartments on Long Island.
“Maybe it’s creating an environment where everything’s just going up, but we looked around, and we haven’t found anywhere else that was cheaper than what we found here,” he said.
While the rent is expensive, Smothergill, a gas utility locator, said the development has more amenities than others in the area. His goal is to buy a home, but to do so, he and his girlfriend are considering a move to upstate New York.
“If it was cheaper to live here, we definitely want to,” he said.
Algorithm-based rents
The Justice Department and federal-class action lawsuits allege landlords and property managers shared nonpublic information with RealPage and used its pricing recommendations to boost revenue.
For example, RealPage's algorithms reflected knowledge of rents, discount offers and occupancy rates for millions of units across the U.S., the Justice Department said in its lawsuit.
The Justice Department said landlords participated "because they understand they will be able to leverage the sensitive information of their rivals in turn,” according to its complaint.
The Justice Department's case is based on the idea that the defendants' sharing of data with RealPage leads to an environment where landlords are less likely to lower rents — or lower them as much as they would if they didn't use this software, said Ronald J. Colombo, a law professor at Hofstra University.
“If I know the secret sauce that goes into how my competitors are setting their prices and know that they’re not going to lower their rents, then I have much less incentive to lower mine," he said.
The Justice Department alleged RealPage took steps to make it easier to accept its recommendations than decline them, including through the use of an auto-accept feature.
The Justice Department also alleged Greystar employees communicated with competitors about pricing, renewal rates and how it used RealPage’s pricing recommendations, according to the lawsuit.
Asked about the allegations, a RealPage spokesperson directed Newsday to a detailed rebuttal of the lawsuits' claims. It notes RealPage customers make their own decisions on rents, can reject the software's recommendations and receive guidance, in some cases, to lower rents or keep them the same.
Greystar said it plans to defend itself in court. "At no time did Greystar engage in any anti-competitive practices," the company said in a statement.
The Federal Trade Commission separately sued Greystar this month, alleging it deceived consumers by advertising monthly rents that failed to mention fees for handling services, such as trash pickup, package deliveries, utilities and smart home features.
Greystar called the FTC's allegations it hid fees from consumers "patently false," noting it advertises the base rent in line with industry practices that allow consumers to compare leases.
"No resident at a Greystar-managed community pays a fee they have not seen and agreed to in their lease," the company said in a statement.
LI connection
Sixteen of the 18 Long Island buildings managed by Greystar, Bozzuto and Rose are owned by other companies. Those building owners hired the accused property managers to run their developments.
The two exceptions are the 244-unit Vistas of Port Jefferson and the 98-unit Cornerstone at Hauppauge, which Greystar owns and operates.
Other Long Island building owners working with the property managers include AVR Realty Co., BRP Development Corp., Friedkin Property Group, a Goldman Sachs-backed investment fund, RXR Realty, Samson Management, Terwilliger Bartone and Tritec, according to data from CoStar, a commercial real estate data company.
None of those companies are named defendants in either the Justice Department’s case or the federal class-action lawsuit in Tennessee. Both building owners and property managers typically have input in setting rents.
Ronkonkoma-based Tritec has five developments and just under 1,700 units, managed by either Greystar or Bozzuto in Suffolk County, including Alston.
The company has contacted both Greystar and Bozzuto about the allegations, Christopher Kelly, senior vice president of marketing at Tritec, told Newsday in an email.
“Tritec remains committed to ethical business practices and ensuring that all of our properties provide high-quality housing for residents while adhering to all relevant regulations,” Kelly said.
AVR Realty declined to comment. The other building owners did not respond to requests for comment.
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