In what might be a major turn in the fight for fair rent practices, the Washington State Attorney General's office has leaped into legal waters with allegations of a rent-hiking conspiracy involving software company RealPage and a cohort of local landlords. The suit, lodged in King County Superior Court, accuses the parties of conspiring to set rental prices beyond competitive levels using RealPage's software tools – tools that also purportedly diminish the chances of other landlords offering more economical rates to tenants.
According to the allegations, properties harnessing RealPage's pricing mechanisms consistently showed higher rents and lower occupancy than similar properties managed without these digital means. Attorney General Nick Brown has not minced words, stating, "RealPage's unfair practices are cheating renters and pricing families out of stable housing," as the Washington State Attorney General's Office reported. Brown is unsparing in his indictment, seeing these actions exacerbate the pressure on an already strained housing crisis within the state.
The lawsuit also details that between 2017 and 2024, around 800,000 leases in Washington were set using RealPage's software. This indicates the alleged collusive behavior potentially influences a significant portion of the rental market. All this is backed by investigation findings that RealPage's programs facilitate shared logic among landlords that typically nudges rents upwards rather than optimizes them based on real-time competition. Furthermore, as one prospective client aptly put it, the issue's essence lies in RealPage using proprietary data from other subscribers to suggest rents and terms. That’s classic price fixing.
The scope of RealPage's alleged sway over rental pricing strategies encompasses not just automated rent recommendations but also advice to landlords on maintaining elevated prices even in times of low occupancy. It even extends to rearranging lease durations to prevent an increase in housing supply that might decrease prices. However, the charge goes further, painting RealPage as the orchestrator of a landlords’ alliance where competitively sensitive information is traded and collective strategies are forged.
The legal team working on the case draws from a diverse pool, including Assistant Attorneys General Brian H. Rowe, Rachel A. Lumen, and others who come together to pursue justice for Washington renters. Landlords and technology enterprises operate within the gaze of consumers, and now, it seems, within the ardent focus of the law.
