Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb has struck a deal with one of the District's landlords, William C. Smith & Co., Inc. (W.C. Smith), in a groundbreaking settlement over a rental price-fixing scheme. According to the Office of the Attorney General, the company will cough up over $1 million and change how it does business. This comes on the heels of allegations that W.C. Smith was in cahoots with other landlords, manipulating apartment rents upwards with the help of pricing software from RealPage, Inc.
The software that's causing all the trouble is designed to gauge and exploit supply and demand dynamics. It's part of RealPage's portfolio of revenue management products, which landlords have been using to set rents for some 50,000 apartments across the District. W.C. Smith has a stake in over 9,000 of these units.
Furthermore, this software isn't just a fixture in a handful of buildings. It affects a staggering 30% of apartments in multifamily buildings in the District and almost 60% of large buildings with 50+ units. The reach expands to nearly 50% market share in the broader Washington-Arlington-Alexandria Metropolitan Area, leaving droves of residents grappling with unjustifiably high rents, as per the Office of the Attorney General.
This case is the first to get results since the Office of the Attorney General filed suit in November 2023. Under the terms of the deal, W.C. Smith not only pays up but must also reform their business practices.
