Justice Department Sues RealPage, Alleging It Enabled Price-Fixing On Rents

The Justice Department on Friday filed an antitrust lawsuit against RealPage, a property management software provider, alleging it enabled a collusion among landlords to inflate rents for millions of Americans. From a report: The complaint claims the Richardson, Texas-based company and its competitors engaged in a price-fixing scheme by sharing nonpublic, sensitive information, which RealPage’s algorithmic pricing software used to generate pricing recommendations. The company replaced competition with rent coordination to the detriment of renters across the U.S., according to the suit, monopolizing the market through its revenue management software which was used by landlords to maximize rent costs.

The DOJ is joined by the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee and Washington. The complaint alleges that RealPage violated sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act, an antitrust law. “Americans should not have to pay more in rent because a company has found a new way to scheme with landlords to break the law,” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in a statement Friday.

“We allege that RealPage’s pricing algorithm enables landlords to share confidential, competitively sensitive information and align their rents. Using software as the sharing mechanism does not immunize this scheme from Sherman Act liability, and the Justice Department will continue to aggressively enforce the antitrust laws and protect the American people from those who violate them.” Further reading:
Can the US Regulate Algorithm-Based Price Fixing on Rental Housing?;
Are We Entering an AI Price-Fixing Dystopia?;
Accused of Using Algorithms To Fix Rental Prices, RealPage Goes on Offensive;
Rent Going Up? One Company’s Algorithm Could Be Why.