(The Center Square) – Creation of a pricing algorithm in coordination with a software company has created a lawsuit by the North Carolina’s attorney general, the federal government and nine other states against RealPage and seven property management companies.
Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, the lawsuit says renters are paying inflated prices because of a coordinated illegal scheme.
North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson, a Democrat and member of the U.S. House of Representatives previously, says landlords and RealPage have shared nonpublic information about rent prices, occupancy, strategies for setting rents and discounts. The action, says the litigation, allows landlords using RealPage products “to set higher prices for rent than competitive market forces would have set,” a release says.
Relief requested is to declare the unlawful acts and restraint of trade in violation of the Sherman Act; to declare RealPage has attempted to monopolize commercial revenue; break up the defendants’ coordinated effort “to engage in the anticompetitive practices”; and additional relief, be it preliminary, permanent or appropriate, as the court finds.
The lawsuit identifies relevant markets between RealPage and the landlords. Those are in Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell in Georgia; Austin-Round Rock in Texas; Charleston-North Charleston in South Carolina; Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia in North Carolina; Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington in Texas; Denver-Aurora-Lakewood in Colorado; Durham-Chapel Hill in North Carolina; Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin in Tennessee; Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford in Florida; and Raleigh in North Carolina.
The lawsuit also names a lengthy list of submarkets impacted.
Jackson, part of the executive committee leading the litigation, said Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and Charlotte areas had about one-third of the one- and two-bedroom apartments rents set through the RealPage algorithm.
“North Carolinians are struggling to afford their rent as it is – we won’t stand for landlords and real estate companies making the problem worse to line their own pockets,” Jackson said. “I’m suing these landlords to make sure they play by the rules so North Carolinians can get fair prices for rent.”
Defendants are RealPage, headquartered in Richardson, Texas; Camden Property Trust of Houston; Cortland Management of Atlanta; Cushman & Wakefield of Chicago; Greystar Real Estate Partners of Charleston, S.C.; Livcor of Chicago; Pinnacle Property Management Services of Frisco, Texas; and Willow Bridge Property of Dallas.
With North Carolina as plaintiffs are U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division, represented by interim Assistant Attorney General Doha Mekki; California, represented by Attorney General Rob Bonta; Colorado, represented by Attorney General Phil Weiser; Connecticut, represented by Attorney General William Tong; Illinois, represented by Attorney General Kwame Raoul; Massachusetts, represented by Attorney General Andrea Campbell; Minnesota, represented by Attorney General Keith Ellison; Oregon, represented by Attorney General Dan Rayfield; Tennessee, represented by Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti; and Washington, represented by Attorney General Bob Ferguson.
Skrmetti is a Republican, and all other prosecutors are Democrats.
Henry Su, from the U.S. Department of Justice, is the senior litigation counsel.