Just before Thanksgiving, the Trump administration’s Department of Justice quietly announced a settlement with RealPage, the software company accused of helping corporate landlords illegally jack up rents across the country. The timing—a classic Friday news dump right before a holiday—raised eyebrows. So did the terms.

Uprise RI has been following the RealPage saga since last June, when FBI agents raided Cortland Management as part of a nationwide rent price-fixing investigation. We covered it again a few months later when the Biden DOJ, alongside nine states, filed a bombshell antitrust lawsuit accusing RealPage of orchestrating a massive conspiracy that inflated housing costs for millions of Americans.

Now, nearly a year into the Trump administration, that case has been settled. And according to investigative journalist Matt Stoller’s analysis, it’s a sweetheart deal that lets RealPage keep doing much of what got them sued in the first place.

The Alleged Conspiracy

RealPage, owned by private equity giant Thoma Bravo, operates software that corporate landlords use to set rental prices. But according to the original lawsuit, it did much more than that.

The company allegedly shared sensitive rental and occupancy data across its clients—big corporate landlords who compete with each other. It then used that data to recommend higher rents, making it difficult for property managers to offer lower prices or concessions. RealPage even employed “pricing advisors” who organized meetings where landlords could exchange information.

One RealPage executive was quoted explaining the value: “I think it’s driving it, quite honestly,” referring to massive rent spikes in 2022 when median rents in some cities jumped 18%.

As the architect of RealPage once put it: “[I]f you have idiots undervaluing, it costs the whole system.”

The alleged scheme worked. But after ProPublica’s 2022 exposé and mounting legal pressure, something changed. In September, national average rent fell 0.3% from August—”the steepest September drop in more than 15 years,” according to the Wall Street Journal.

A Settlement Full of Loopholes

Trump’s Antitrust Division chief, Gail Slater, announced the settlement as a “big win for renters and families.” She claimed it would prohibit RealPage from sharing private data, limit access to granular geographic information, and eliminate automated rent increase features.

But RealPage’s own attorney told a different story. Gibson Dunn’s Stephen Weissman said the DOJ had come to “bless the legality of RealPage’s prior and planned product changes” and expressed gratitude. That’s a stunning characterization—the company believes the government just approved its earlier conduct.

Nine states that were co-plaintiffs in the original lawsuit refused to sign the settlement. That’s a red flag.

Stoller’s analysis reveals why. The settlement is loaded with complex provisions that create loopholes. RealPage can still offer “synthetic curves”—essentially price lists for landlords—as long as they’re slightly different for each client. The pricing advisors who tell landlords what to charge? They can stay, as long as their conversations are supposedly based on “public data.”

“How is a pricing advisor supposed to have a discussion solely based on public data or the client’s data?” Stoller asks. “If a client says ‘what do you think about raising rents here’ and that pricing advisor just talked to a different landlord who is raising prices, what are they supposed to say?”

RealPage gets to keep all the data it gathered through allegedly illegal means and can continue building models with it. The settlement monitor lasts just three years—ending before Trump’s term does.

From Populist to Corporate Puppet

This is just the latest example of Trump abandoning the populist policies he campaigned on. He ran promising to fight for working people, to drain the swamp, to take on powerful interests. Instead, his administration has delivered what critics call a third George W. Bush term on steroids—one corporate giveaway after another.

It probably didn’t hurt that Thoma Bravo, the private equity fund that owns RealPage, hired Ballard Partners—a lobbying firm where Trump’s former Attorney General Pam Bondi and other Trump allies used to work.

The settlement essentially greenlights most of RealPage’s rent-fixing schemes. For millions of renters struggling with affordability, it’s a betrayal.

What Happens Next

RealPage isn’t completely out of the woods. Multiple states and cities have passed laws banning algorithmic rent collusion. Private lawsuits continue. And those nine states that didn’t sign the settlement can keep fighting.

But it just got harder. When a company has a settlement with the DOJ, judges tend to ask why that’s not enough. And algorithmic price-fixers in other industries—from PVC pipe to hotel rooms—are watching closely. The Trump DOJ just showed them what they can get away with.

For renters in Rhode Island and across the country, the message is clear: Don’t expect help from Washington. Real change will have to come from states, cities, and voters demanding their elected officials actually fight corporate price-fixing.

According to Edelman polling, most Americans agree that “People like me will be left behind rather than realize any real advantages from generative AI.” They’re right to worry. As this settlement shows, algorithms in the hands of oligarchs aren’t designed to help working people—they’re designed to squeeze every last dollar out of them.

The question now is whether voters will remember this the next time they head to the polls.