The US DOJ sues RealPage, alleging its software helps property managers collude to drive up rental prices on millions of units, violating antitrust law

- Prosecutors allege software drives up prices on rental units — Company says rent software uses anonymous, aggregated data

Bloomberg 2024-08-24

Context & Ripple Effects

The complaint follows the DOJ's [[a:985247|earlier investigation into whether RealPage's rent-setting tools facilitated landlord coordination]] and reports in July that an enforcement action was imminent. It turns a long-running concern about shared pricing systems into a formal antitrust test.

RealPage maintains that its product relies on anonymous, aggregated data. The dispute therefore centers on whether the design and use of a pricing platform can create unlawful coordination even without an explicit agreement among property managers.

First-order effects

RealPage must defend its rental-pricing software and data practices in a DOJ antitrust case, while its public defense focuses on the data being anonymous and aggregated.
Property managers that use the platform face immediate scrutiny over how software recommendations and market data informed their rent decisions.

Second-order effects

Other rental-pricing vendors and landlords have reason to review whether their tools pool competitively sensitive information or encourage alignment around recommended prices.
The case raises the compliance burden for software providers whose products convert customer data into market-wide pricing guidance, particularly where customers are direct competitors.

Third-order effects

If the DOJ's theory gains traction, antitrust enforcement could increasingly examine algorithmic coordination through shared platforms rather than only explicit person-to-person agreements.
The durable question is whether aggregation, anonymization, and automated recommendations are sufficient safeguards when a tool is used across a concentrated market; the litigation may help define that boundary.

The trend: This is part of a broader shift toward testing whether data-driven pricing systems can enable coordination that competition law has traditionally associated with direct collusion.

Discussion

@chrisgeidner Chris Geidner on threads
Update: The RealPage case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Loretta Biggs, a 70-year-old Obama appointee and the first Black woman on the federal district court bench in North Carolina.
@modic123 Chirag Modi on x
RealPage has >80% market share as a PMS solution. Which other software companies have such a high market share in their end markets? [image]
@rppublicpolicy @rppublicpolicy on x
We are disappointed that, after multiple years of education and cooperation on the antitrust matters concerning RealPage, the DOJ has chosen this moment to pursue a lawsuit that seeks to scapegoat pro-competitive technology that has been used responsibly for years. It is merely
@rajiinio Deb Raji on x
RealPage is a clear monopoly player in the protech space & has been using algos of all sorts, impacting millions of tenants, unchecked for years. Next, it would be great to see some scrutiny on their role in tenant screening, reported by @themarkup here: https://themarkup.org/...
@khushitavasant @khushitavasant on x
On DOJ algorithmic rent price-fixing suit, @RealPage says it is “disappointed” that after multiple years of education/ cooperation, “DOJ has chosen this moment to pursue a lawsuit that seeks to scapegoat pro-competitive technology that has been used responsibly for years.” [image…
@chrisgeidner @chrisgeidner on x
lmaoooooo these quotes from ag garland's announcement of the realpage antitrust lawsuit [image]
@rajiinio Deb Raji on x
@themarkup My main issue - which I was glad to see featured prominently in this complaint - is how much they try to automate the rental process end to end (setting rental prices, screening tenants, etc) and *completely* box the humans out of any decision-making.
@kristakbrown Krista Brown on x
Credit to @hvogell and @propublica who's reporting sparking these RealPage suits. Basically all of the footnotes on senate letters to DOJ asking for an investigation are her stories or RealPage statements. [image]
@modestproposal1 @modestproposal1 on x
I am not a lawyer, and this is not legal advice, but if you are operating a business that knows it may be committing antitrust violations, don't put a 😀in a marketing deck after writing the words “That could be considered price collusion, and it's illegal” [image]
@modestproposal1 @modestproposal1 on x
In RealPage's defense, it appears multifam landlords already uh coordinated, just using Google Drive instead. Just they're just providing a level of efficiency to the industry. [image]
@sengianaris Sen. Mike Gianaris on x
Real Page has exacerbated the affordability crisis in the American housing market. Their market manipulation and price fixing, is just one of the many anti-trust issues I am working to address, including my bill the 21st Century Anti-Trust Act
@chopracfpb Rohit Chopra on x
If you want to understand some of the ways that private equity-owned companies are pushing up the cost of housing, here's a good example. Today, @TheJusticeDept and several states sued @RealPage for its algorithmic collusion scheme to drive up rents. https://www.bloomberg.com/...
@matthewstoller Matt Stoller on x
“In its pitch to prospective clients, RealPage describes AIRM's and YieldStar's access to competitors' granular, transactional data as a meaningful tool that it claims enables landlords to outperform their properties' competitors by 2-7%.” Interesting.
@amyklobuchar Amy Klobuchar on x
When landlords collude to delegate pricing decisions to algorithms, renters can lose out on the benefits of competition and face higher rates. I called on the DOJ to investigate RealPage's use of algorithms to set rents and now they are taking action with a major antitrust case.
@matthewstoller Matt Stoller on x
“Our tool ensures that [landlords] are driving every possible opportunity to increase price even in the most downward trending or unexpected conditions.” BOOM. That's illegal, and antitrust enforcer Jonathan Kanter just dropped the hammer.
@johnmarknewman John Mark Newman on x
Imagine the look on the DOJ attorney's face who searched the document production for “price fixing” — just on the off chance it popped — and found this, from the RealPage antitrust complaint: [image]
@pat_garofalo @pat_garofalo on x
“Another landlord that used YieldStar told RealPage that within a week of adopting YieldStar they started increasing their rents, and within eleven months had raised rents more than 25% and eliminated concessions.”
@moreperfectus @moreperfectus on x
DOJ antitrust enforcer Jonathan Kanter just spoke about the government suing RealPage for running an illegal rent raising cartel: “In prosperous times, that competition should limit rent hikes. In harder times, competition should bring down rent, making housing more affordable.” …
@leehepner Lee Hepner on x
Earlier this week, RealPage sent me a cease & desist letter regarding my public comments about their alleged price-fixing scheme. Today, the Justice Dept and 8 State AGs sued RealPage for allegedly harming millions of renters through said scheme... [image]
@econliberties @econliberties on x
🚨BIG: @JusticeATR has filed an antitrust suit against RealPage, a software company that helps landlords collude to raise rents across the US. The company brags about “everybody succeeding vs. trying to essentially compete against one another,” says AAG Jonathan Kanter. [video]
@pat_garofalo @pat_garofalo on x
Really important point here: Realpage is not only rocket fuel for raising rents in up markets, but also acts as a parachute limiting rent decreases in down markets. [image]
@azagmayes @azagmayes on x
Glad to see the @TheJusticeDept and eight more states join the fight against @RealPage for its price fixing scheme that has jacked up rents on Arizonans and renters across the country.
@alexiskweed Alexis Keenan on x
The @TheJusticeDept + states have sued AI-enabled rental software co @RealPage alleging the co broke US competition law by selling software to landlords that collects nonpublic info from competing landlords and using that combined information to make pricing recommendations. [ima…
@moreperfectus @moreperfectus on x
BREAKING: The Justice Department has filed a lawsuit against real estate software company RealPage, alleging that the company's algorithm is used by landlords who collude to raise rents. This housing cartel and their algorithmic conspiracy could be why rent is up 20% since 2020. …
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