The city of Memphis is pondering legal action against car manufacturers Hyundai and Kia due to a surge in thefts attributed to vehicle defects and against software company RealPage, Inc., accused of contributing to escalating rental prices. These potential lawsuits would enlist the services of a special attorney to navigate what the City Council refers to as "extraordinary litigation," a topic set for Tuesday's Council meeting, as reported by WREG.
Memphis officials are mulling hiring the firm Johnson and Johnson, P.C. to represent the city in its dispute with the automakers. The resolution to invite outside counsel into the fold must first pass muster during the Council's executive session, per the agenda for tonight, cites a Local Memphis report. Hyundai and Kia are already under scrutiny for acknowledging a software flaw that renders certain models susceptible to theft — a problem exacerbated by a viral TikTok trend showcasing how to exploit the vulnerability.
Furthermore, city documents blame the alarming number of vehicle thefts on defects "known to the manufacturer" and accuse the companies of both concealing these defects and failing to remedy them, which resulted in a "dramatic increase in vehicle thefts," articulated in documentation referred to by The Daily Memphian. In the past two years, a staggering 22,000 vehicles have been purloined in Memphis, with Kias and Hyundais notably topping the list, requiring law enforcement, including the Memphis Police and Shelby County Sheriff's Office, to dedicate extensive resources to confront the uptick.
Regarding the housing market tension, the rental pricing software by RealPage has drawn the ire of Memphis officials; they claim it artificially inflates rent to the detriment of the city's residents, the board documents citing the City Council meeting convey "many of the increased rents are likely due to landlord the use of RealPage software, which many landlords use to set rent prices and which is aimed at 'driving every possible opportunity to increase price.'" The Department of Justice is already challenging RealPage with an antitrust lawsuit filed in August, asserting the software institutes "an algorithmic pricing scheme that harms millions of American renters,” which corroborates local sentiments, as detailed in Local Memphis coverage.
