HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Rents are rising, and in some cases, the Justice Department says it may be illegal.

On Tuesday, the DOJ filed an antitrust lawsuit against six major landlords. It accuses them of working together to keep rent prices high.

Those landlords include Houston-based Camden, Greystar, Cushman & Wakefield, LivCor, Cortland, and Willow Bridge. Together, they control 1.3 million apartment units.

“It’s not just cooperating. It’s collaborating. It’s conspiring,” legal analyst Brian Wice said.

In an alleged April 2022 conversation between rival companies, a LivCor executive is quoted as saying, “Prices for almost everything are up 20%. Therefore, unless there is a good reason not to, should we be increasing rates on rentable items by 20%?”

A Camden executive allegedly responds, “I like your thinking.”

“It’s just a shame. It’s an absolute shame,” Christa Stoneham, CEO of the Houston Land Bank, said.

Stoneham said many of the people she’s working to get into homes have struggled with increasing rent prices.

“It must be discouraging to know that people are just, unfortunately, probably taking advantage of them and the situation that they’re in,” she said.

According to the lawsuit, one property manager declined to share information with another company, citing price-fixing concerns.

When a Greystar property manager recounted this to a Cushman & Wakefield property manager, the Cushman & Wakefield manager allegedly replied, “Hmm … Price fixing laws, huh? That’s a new one! Well, I’m happy to keep sharing, so ask away.”

In August, the DOJ sued Texas-based company RealPage over its YieldStar software, which pools non-public rent data to help landlords set prices.

The landlords named in Tuesday’s amended lawsuit are accused of using the software.

“They are able to universally create an artificially high market for rents even in the most desperate of times,” Wice said.

The DOJ has already proposed a settlement with Cortland, which controls 12 apartment complexes in the Houston area.

Under the terms of that settlement, Cortland would have to stop sharing and receiving non-public data with rival companies and would have to stop using the RealPage software.

“Cortland is pleased to announce the US Department of Justice filed a proposed settlement that would resolve the Antitrust Division’s civil investigation into Cortland related to antitrust violations in the multifamily housing industry,” the company wrote in a statement.

Greystar released this statement:

“We are disappointed that the DOJ added us and other operators to their lawsuit against RealPage. Greystar has and will conduct its business with the utmost integrity. At no time did Greystar engage in any anti-competitive practices. We will vigorously defend ourselves in this lawsuit.”

None of the other landlords named in the lawsuit returned requests for comment.