Housing costs are at what feels like an all-time high, whether you’re looking to buy a house or rent an apartment.

It’s downright depressing for most regular folks, and no one can seem to agree on the reason or how we can bring them back down.

A recent report, though, suggests a new theory – that AI could be the driving force behind the cost of rent, at least.

Many landlords use a property management software called RealPage, which includes AI mean to suggest rent price recommendations. According to a report by the White House Council of Economic Advisors, though, the tool – AI Revenue Management – is being used to allow proprietors to inflate rental prices by more than $3.8 billion every year.

“Price coordination” is illegal, and that’s what the Department of Justice is alleging RealPage facilitates. Nearly 25% of multifamily rental properties currently use a RealPage pricing algorithm, and in some major metropolitan areas, like Atlanta, it’s closer to 50%.

The Sherman Act outlaws price fixing because it’s an anti-competitive move that ultimately leads to higher costs for consumers. RealPagesAI recommends prices “higher than the profit-maximizing price that each landlord would set independently.”

Not only that, but landlords that don’t use the software also tend to follow suit, causing rent to raise across the board.

The report goes on to state, “…our estimate indicates that eliminating this cost would meaningfully decrease price mark-ups for rental housing across the country.”

RealPages argues this isn’t an issue, since renters have “100 percent discretion to accept or reject software price recommendations.”

Right… but then they have to incur massive costs to move out of their apartment or house.

Is anything fair anymore?

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