The U.S. Justice Department is suing several landlords for allegedly coordinating to keep Americans' rents high by using both an algorithm to help set rents and privately sharing sensitive information with their own competitors to boost profits.
The lawsuit arrives as U.S. renters continue to struggle under a merciless housing market, with incomes failing to keep up with rental increases. The latest figures showing that half of American renters spent more than 30% of their income on rent and utilities in 2022, an all-time high.
