Second largest NC landlord reaches settlement in rent inflation lawsuit

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – One of the largest landlords in North Carolina has agreed to stop using a software that the Attorney General says uses private information to inflate the price of rent.

Cortland Management owns at least eight properties in the Charlotte area. They are the second largest landlord in North Carolina. As a part of the terms of the settlement, the management company will no longer use RealPage, a software authorities say illegally inflates the price of rent.

“People are just trying to survive with all of the economic uncertainty going on. I think people are just trying to get through every day and I don’t think it’s nice for them to take advantage of that,” Navya Yekkala, Renter said.

Cortland is the first of six companies agreeing to a settlement that ends a lawsuit. Earlier this year, the North Carolina Attorney General sued several landlords for violating anti-trust laws by using RealPage. Authorities say the software uses artificial intelligence and private data to generate rent prices which contributes to high rates.

Court paperwork shows Cortland did not admit fault, but will pay North Carolina 100 thousand dollars for attorney fees and consumer education. Some renters say they want authorities look at other ways to protect renters from overpaying.

“I feel like there’s not enough regulations and restrictions and overhead on renting and prices and stuff like that. I believe that there should be some regulatory body that is constantly checking over this,” Axel Gil, Renter said.

In a statement, a spokesman from Cortland said, “Cortland has invested years and significant internal resources into developing a proprietary revenue management software tool that does not rely on data from external, non-public sources…We continue to seek opportunities to invest in tools and services that will improve resident experience and the success of our managed communities.”

Some renters say want a tool that can help find affordable rent.

“It takes so much work to have to find the cheaper rents too. And sometimes when you get stuck in, like, uh, leases, it’s more inconvenient to move to find those cheaper rents and they just jack it up on you after a year,” Harrison Rose, Renter said.

The lawsuit against the five other landlords continues. The Attorney General says in total those companies manage about 70,000 units across the state and a large portion of them are here in our area.