North Carolina settles lawsuit with Cortland Management over AI rent-setting
North Carolina reached a settlement with Cortland Management, the state's largest landlord, prohibiting the use of AI software to set rental prices. The agreement is part of a broader Department of Justice lawsuit against RealPage for allegedly using artificial intelligence to inflate rents across the country.
What happened
In August 2024, the United States Department of Justice filed a civil lawsuit against RealPage for using artificial intelligence to inflate rents across America, with landlords using the software causing rents to skyrocket and compete with 'ghost' rent prices.
In April 2025, North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson announced a settlement with Cortland Management, LLC, the state's largest landlord owning more than 5,000 units in the Triangle area representing one third of all 1-3 bedroom local rentals, prohibiting the company from using data from AI websites like RealPage to set prices.
Cortland did not admit fault under the settlement terms but agreed to pay North Carolina $100,000 for attorney fees and consumer education.
Reported impact
Renters reported that the use of RealPage software by Cortland Management and other landlords caused rent prices to increase unfairly, forcing renters to struggle with high costs amid economic uncertainty.
Index analysis
The settlement prohibits Cortland Management from using RealPage's AI software to set rental prices, addressing the use of artificial intelligence combined with private data to generate rent prices that authorities said contributed to high rates.
Governance controls
North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson worked alongside Colorado Attorney General Philip Weiser and the Department of Justice to bring the lawsuit, with Jackson stating that the settlement means 'one less landlord using RealPage's unlawful AI software to charge North Carolinians unfair rent.'
The lawsuit continues against five other landlords that manage approximately 70,000 units across North Carolina.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.