Residents of a 527-unit building in Jersey City, New Jersey, are taking legal action against RealPage and 34 co-defendant landlords. The lawsuit alleges that after offering concessions during the Covid-19 pandemic, the management significantly raised prices, resulting in a class-action lawsuit. The U.S. Department of Justice and the attorney general of Washington, D.C. have also filed complaints related to the alleged violations of the Sherman Antitrust Act. The attorney general of Washington, D.C. stated that RealPage is enabling a housing cartel by sharing sensitive data among landlords and setting artificially high rents. RealPage refutes the claims, stating that its tools use anonymized, aggregated data to deliver pricing recommendations and that landlords are not obligated to accept the suggested prices. RealPage was acquired by a private equity firm for $10.2 billion in 2021, and the firm denies liability for the alleged acts of its subsidiary. Tenants became aware of revenue management software in real estate through an investigative report and have been challenging landlord pricing practices through legal means. The ongoing litigation involves multiple parties, and it is continuing in the courts. Rents in the U.S. dipped to $1,964 per month, but analysts believe that landlords in areas with low home construction still have pricing power. The CEO of Equity Residential expressed confidence in the company’s position in the market in a June 2023 interview with CNBC.
