RealPage, a major landlord, is being sued in DC for an alleged rent-fixing scheme.

• A lawsuit was filed by the District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb against 14 major landlords and RealPage, a property management software company.
• The lawsuit claims that the landlords and RealPage conspired to unlawfully increase rents for thousands of residents by jointly providing their information to the company.
• The investigation conducted by the office revealed that the technology was used to set rents for over 50,000 apartments in D.C. in violation of the district's Antitrust Act.

The Attorney General of Washington, D.C., Brian Schwalb's office announced on Tuesday that they are filing a lawsuit against RealPage, a property management software company, and 14 of the district's largest landlords for allegedly conspiring to increase rents.

Several publicly traded real estate investment trusts, including UDR, AvalonBay Communities, and Equity Residential, have been named in a complaint.

RealPage used an algorithm to artificially raise prices for more than 50,000 apartments across the city, resulting in millions of dollars in illegal rent hikes, according to a release from Schwalb's office. The alleged collusion violates the District of Columbia's Antitrust Act, the office said.

William C. Smith & Co. does not comment on pending litigation, as stated by a company spokesperson. The spokesperson added that the company has not received any official court papers and lacks information about the specifics of the matter.

JBG Smith Properties' spokesperson stated that the company does not provide comments on ongoing legal proceedings.

No other landlords in the lawsuit responded to a request for comment right away.

"Our office will continue to use the law to combat a district-wide housing cartel and protect District residents and law-abiding businesses from unfair market conditions," Schwalb stated.

The full complaint can be read here.

Over 60% of apartments in large multifamily buildings across the district use RealPage’s price technology, which utilizes confidential data and statistical models to determine supply and demand and set a price to maximize revenue for landlords.

Jennifer Bowcock, a spokesperson for RealPage, stated in a CNBC interview that the copycat lawsuit attempting to establish a causal link between revenue management software and market-wide rent increases repeats the errors of previous cases. She emphasized that the complaint and similar lawsuits are factually and legally incorrect and that RealPage will fiercely defend against them.

In the Southern District of California and Tennessee, renters have previously sued RealPage over the past year. This lawsuit consolidated over 20 different suits filed in Seattle, Texas, Boston, and other courts.

The attorney general alleges that the landlords listed in the Wednesday complaint collaborated to exchange confidential information and adopt rents set by RealPage's "Revenue Management" technology, resulting in a marketplace where they worked together to the detriment of renters.

The attorney general's office is looking to appoint a corporate monitor to prevent any anti-competitive collusion and is seeking financial penalties for the district and its residents, whose rents were allegedly raised illegally.

A federal jury in Missouri found the National Association of Realtors and some brokerages, including units of , liable for conspiring to artificially inflate home sales commissions. As a result, a lawsuit has been filed in D.C.