The lawsuit, filed jointly with the attorneys general of states including North Carolina and California, accuses the company of violating antitrust laws with its algorithm that landlords use to determine recommended rental prices for apartments.

The algorithm allows landlords to match their prices and avoid competition that would keep rents down, Justice Department officials said. The lawsuit quotes a RealPage executive as saying, “It’s better for everyone to succeed than for us to try to basically compete with each other in a way that keeps the entire industry down.”

In a statement, Attorney General Merrick Garland said: “Americans should not have to pay more rent just because a corporation found a new way to scheme with landlords and break the law.”

Attorneys general in several states have independently filed lawsuits against RealPage, accusing the company of an illegal price-fixing scheme related to its algorithmic pricing software.

In a statement posted on its website in June, RealPage called the allegations against the company “false and misleading” and argued that the company’s software actually “contributes to a healthier and more efficient rental housing ecosystem.” RealPage said landlords can set their own rental prices and reject the software’s recommendations.

This is the latest example of the Biden administration’s aggressive antitrust policies.

The Justice Department sued Apple in March and announced a full-blown lawsuit against Ticketmaster and its owner Live Nation Entertainment in May. Antitrust regulators have also launched investigations into the roles Microsoft, Nvidia and OpenAI played in the artificial intelligence boom.