abc news reporter andrea fujii explains why. >> across america, rents are on the rise. recent study found half of all renters are spending more than 30% of their income on housing. but now a growing legal battle over why those rents are so high. the government is suing major landlords, accusing them of illegally collaborating to raise rents nationwide. >> that has resulted in rates being raised more quickly than they otherwise would have been. >> north carolina is one of ten states now joining the justice department, alleging these major property companies operating more than 1 million housing units in 43 states are using algorithms to set rents and share sensitive information with each other to reduce competition and boost profits. >> there's basically this piece of artificial intelligence software that is allowing landlords, we believe, to collude with each other instead of compete with each other. >> greystar real estate partners is one of the defendants. it denies the accusations, saying at no time did greystar engage in any anti-competitive practices. a white house

abc news reporter andrea fujii explains what this lawsuit is accusing them of. >> across america, rentsthe rise. one recent study found half of all renters are spending more than 30% of their income on housing. but now a growing legal battle over why those rents are so high. the government is suing six major landlords, accusing them of illegally collaborating to raise rents nationwide. >> that has resulted in rates being raised more quickly than they otherwise would have been. >> north carolina is one of ten states now joining the justice department, alleging these major property companies operating more than 1 million housing units in 43 states are using algorithms to set rents and share sensitive information with each other to reduce competition and boost profits. >> there's basically this piece of artificial intelligence software that is allowing landlords, we believe, to collude with each other instead of compete with each other. >> greystar real estate partners is one of the defendants. it denies the accusations, saying at no time did greystar engage in any anti-competitive practic

andrea fujii abc news, new york. >> just horrific.morning, we are sharing the stories of bay area residents who are in new orleans during yesterday's attack. abc seven news reporter lena howland live to tell us about that. and it sounds like these individuals were quite shaken by what they heard happened. >> yeah, reggie shaken would be an understatement. a marin county firefighter happened to be there for a firefighter union convention, and he was out in the french quarter celebrating new year's eve only hours before the attack. firefighter john aguilar took these photos in new orleans yesterday. he even told us that he wanted to stay out in the french quarter a little longer. early wednesday morning, but instead, they opted to go back to the hotel right around 1:15 a.m, which could have been a life saving decision. he told us he cut straight through within about a block and a half of where the attack happened. while he did hear a tremendous amount of sirens. once back at the hotel, he thought it was for a fire. it wasn't until he wo

here's abc's andrea fujii with more. >> this morning a big win for women's college basketball.ee yes. after years of discussion, the ncaa has unanimously decided to pay women's teams in the march madness tournament. just like men's teams have been paid for years. >> finally, for the first time ever, the women's tournament is going to start to reap some of the financial rewards that it has deserved for a long time, but has never been allowed to have in 2021. >> video of the women's basketball weight room during the division one playoffs compared to the men's sparked a debate over disparity. since then, women's basketball has exploded in popularity. the women's ncaa tournament last year was its most successful ever, with a title game bringing in a record audience of nearly 19 million viewers. about 4 million more than the men's title game. >> the sexism was was there, and it was truly unfair for our female athletes compared to our male athletes. >> payments will be in effect for the upcoming tournament. participating schools will share in the revenue, with winning teams receiving

andrea fujii abc news, new york. >> california is part of that lawsuit, and we want to point out that last october, san francisco became the first city in the nation to prohibit the use of ai powered software to set rents. thank you so much for joining us today. world news tonight with david muir starts right now. and i'll see you back here at four. >>> tonight, a special edition of "world news tonight." the unimaginable destruction here in los angeles. multiple wildfires still burning out of control. there is breaking news as we come on the air tonight. we have just learned of another major fire. there are evacuation orders just under way. tonight, the aerial images, you'll see right here. thousands of homes now gone across the region. and the new concerns about the winds in the hours to come. tonight, the devastating images of the widespread destruction across los angeles. mile after mile of scorched earth. the palisades fire, the most destructive fire in l.a. history. more than 5,000 homes burned to the ground in this fire alone. santa ana winds up to 70 miles per hour fueling at l