RealPage, which makes property management software, was sued Friday by the U.S. Justice Department and eight attorneys general for allegedly conspiring with apartment and building managers across the country to drive up unit prices.
The Richardson, Texas-based company is accused of contracting with competing landlords to train RealPage’s recommendation algorithms and absorbing information about those landlords’ prices and rental terms, thereby discouraging competition among property owners who follow the company’s recommendations on pricing and other terms.
According to Zillow, this is the Justice Department’s first major algorithmic collusion case and comes as rents in the U.S. have surged 33% since March 2020.
According to the lawsuit, RealPage, which was acquired by private equity firm Thoma Bravo in 2021 for $10.2 billion, has an 80% share of the commercial revenue management software market for traditional multifamily rentals in the United States. The company denies any wrongdoing.
