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Justice Dept. Sues Major Landlords
That Use Software for Setting Rents
The Justice Department added six of the nation’s biggest landlords to a lawsuit last week that accuses them of price-fixing to set rental rates.
Some of them, such as Greystar, operate rental units in the Washington, D.C., area.
All of them use a computer program called RealPage that sets rents based on algorithms and data on market conditions.
The Justice Department says the landlords went beyond common use of RealPage to share information that helped them collude in keeping rents high. Maryland’s attorney general made similar allegations in a lawsuit he filed this week.
About half of Americans are spending more than 30 percent of their household income on rent and utilities, an all-time high, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The Justice Department says price-fixing by landlords named in its lawsuit is a big part of the reason.
As of January 2025, the average apartment rent in Washington is $2,285 per month, according to Apartments.com. “This is 47 percent higher than the national average rent price of $1,553 per month, making Washington one of the most expensive cities in the U.S.,” the rental marketplace reported.
Although a decrease in new home construction over the past decade is a factor in the housing shortage that keeps rents high, major landlords are contributing, according to the Justice Department.
Landlords named in the amended lawsuit are Camden, Greystar, Cushman & Wakefield, LivCor, Cortland, and Willow Bridge. They operate in 43 states and the District of Columbia.
Rather than rely only on the software, the landlords also shared private information on rental pricing of their apartments, the number of their residents and ways to change price plans to raise rent but in a way that represents a potential antitrust violation, according to the Justice Department.
RealPage denied that its software was unfairly slanting rents in favor of landlords.
RealPage said “fewer than 10 percent of all rental housing units in the U.S. use RealPage software to suggest rental prices, and our software recommendations are accepted less than half the time.”
Supreme Court Justice Alito Refused
To Recuse After Phone Call with Trump
Donald Trump’s criminal sentencing went through as scheduled last week but a controversy it created with a Supreme Court justice continues.
Trump was sentenced to “unconditional discharge” by a New York judge after conviction on charges of falsifying business records to cover up a sexual affair with a porn actor. He will incur no prison times or fines but retain a felony record.
He appealed to the Supreme Court to stop the sentencing but his appeal was denied. The majority opinion included three dissents, one of them from Justice Samuel Alito Jr.
Three days before the sentencing, Trump phoned Alito to discuss a job referral for a Supreme Court law clerk to the incoming presidential administration.
Alito did not recuse himself from Trump’s sentencing appeal. He said his phone call over a job referral did not create a conflict of interest.
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Latest News
Justice Dept. Releases Report Implicating
Trump in Felony Election Interference
Donald Trump would have been convicted of serious felonies for election interference if he had not regained the presidency, a special prosecutor’s report released this week said.
The Justice Department released the report one day after special prosecutor Jack Smith resigned amid threats of criminal prosecution by the incoming Trump administration.
The report describes the investigation that led to Trump being charged with four felony counts of undertaking a "criminal scheme" to overturn the 2020 election as he tried to remain in power. Trump pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The Justice Department dropped the case against him in November while citing a policy that prohibits prosecuting a sitting president.
"The Department's view that the Constitution prohibits the continued indictment and prosecution of a President is categorical and does not turn on the gravity of the crimes charged, the strength of the Government's proof, or the merits of the prosecution, which the Office stands fully behind," the report said. "Indeed, but for Mr. Trump's election and imminent return to the Presidency, the Office assessed that the admissible evidence was sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction at trial.".
Power the Civil Rights Work of Our Time
Each day members of our community are experiencing wage theft, the effects of gentrification, discriminatory policing, collateral consequences, marginalization in schools, and barriers to public accommodations.
We fight alongside people facing the effects of gentrification like Amira Moore. Our work empowers the people and communities who need it most, “We can do more than we think. There’s a path to equity, we just have to step to it.” –Ms. Moore
For more than 50 years, the Washington Lawyers’ Committee has been on the frontlines of the fight for civil rights in our community. We deploy the best legal talent, we tackle the tough cases, we fight, and we win.
Our work is as important today as it has ever been. Through your support, you can play a role in creating justice for thousands of marginalized members of our community. Together, we will dismantle injustice and pursue lasting change.
Join us! Donate & subscribe: https://www.washlaw.org/support-us
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For more information, contact Gregg Kelley at Gregg_Kelley@washlaw.org
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Letters to the Editor
D.C. in Brief
D.C. Congresswoman Reintroduces Bill
To Assert Local Control Over Local Laws
A bill reintroduced last week by Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C., appears to be taking on greater importance for Washington officials as they speculate on what Republican control of Congress and the White House will mean for the autonomy of local government.
Norton’s District of Columbia Legislative Home Rule Act would eliminate the congressional review period for bills passed by the D.C. Council. It would allow the local legislation to take effect immediately.
Currently, federal oversight of D.C. requires a congressional review period for bills passed by the D.C. Council of either 30 or 60 legislative days, depending on the type of bill.
If a congressional resolution disapproving a D.C. bill is signed into law during the review period, the local legislation does not become law.
In 2023, Congress blocked D.C.’s Revised Criminal Code Act of 2022 after complaints it was too easy on crime. The local bill would have eliminated mandatory minimum sentences for many crimes and reduced the maximum penalties for others, such as burglary, carjacking, and robbery.
In 2014, Congress vetoed D.C.’s Initiative 71 by prohibiting taxpayer funds from being used to legalize Schedule 1 drugs like marijuana. Use of small amounts of marijuana remain legal in D.C. but local government is forbidden by the congressional action from using public money to regulate or tax it.
In both cases, Norton and other local officials complained about federal intervention in local decisions. She repeated her concerns when she reintroduced the Legislative Home Rule Act last week.
"Congress generally uses the appropriations process to overturn or block D.C. laws,” Norton said.
Pam Bondi Grilled in Confirmation Hearing
Over Possible Political Criminal Prosecutions
Democrats accused Pam Bondi of evasiveness but Republicans strongly supported her during her Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday as nominee to become U.S. attorney general.
By the end of the hearing, there was wide agreement on the Senate Judiciary Committee that she will win confirmation to lead the Justice Department.
Bondi is a former prosecutor, lobbyist and Florida attorney general from 2011 to 2019. In 2020, she was one of President-elect Donald Trump's defense lawyers during his first impeachment trial.
The main issue of contention during the confirmation hearing was whether she would target criminal prosecutions based on disagreements over political policy.
Republicans say the Biden administration sought to prosecute supporters of Donald Trump. They included his former attorneys, such as Rudy Giuliani, and some of the rioters at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
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Legal Briefs
We Could Use Your Help
Thousands of DC residents need a lawyer, but can’t afford one. They could be illegally evicted from their homes, lose custody of their children, experience domestic violence, and more, all because they lack legal representation.
You could make a difference. By making a donation to the Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia, you will provide free, high-quality, zealous legal representation to low-income DC residents.
Your support could prevent homelessness, domestic violence, hunger, or family separation. In fact, if just 10 people who see this ad give $28 to Legal Aid, it will be enough to staff an experienced attorney at the courthouse for a day.
That way, DC residents like Keith King (pictured above) can get the legal representation they need to win their cases. As Mr. King put it, if it wasn’t for his Legal Aid lawyer, “I would have been homeless again.”
Here is the link to the Legal Aid website for donations: https://www.legalaiddc.org/donate-to-legal-aid/
For more information, contact Rob Pergament at Legal Aid at rpergament@legalaiddc.org