Posted on 11/25/2025 12:10:34 PM PST by E. Pluribus Unum
Landlords could no longer rely on rent-pricing software to quietly track each other’s moves and push rents higher using confidential data, under a settlement between RealPage Inc. and federal prosecutors to end what critics said was illegal “algorithmic collusion.”
The deal announced Monday by the Department of Justice follows a yearlong federal antitrust lawsuit, launched during the Biden administration, against the Texas-based software company. RealPage would not have to pay any damages or admit any wrongdoing. The settlement must still be approved by a judge.
RealPage software provides daily recommendations to help landlords and their employees nationwide price their available apartments. The landlords do not have to follow the suggestions, but critics argue that because the software has access to a vast trove of confidential data, it helps RealPage’s clients charge the highest possible rent.
“RealPage was replacing competition with coordination, and renters paid the price,” said DOJ antitrust chief Gail Slater, who emphasized that the settlement avoided a costly, time-consuming trial.
Under the terms of the proposed settlement, RealPage can no longer use that real-time data to determine price recommendations. Instead, the only nonpublic data that can be used to train the software’s algorithm must be at least one year old.
“What does this mean for you and your family?” Slater said in a video statement. “It means more real competition in local housing markets. It means rents set by the market, not by a secret algorithm.”
RealPage attorney Stephen Weissman said the company is pleased the DOJ worked with them to settle the matter.
“There has been a great deal of misinformation about how RealPage’s software works and the value it provides for both housing providers and renters,” Weissman said in a statement. “We believe that RealPage’s historical use of aggregated and anonymized nonpublic data, which include...
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...
so stupid.
So now landlords will simply go back to doing what they always did before. Call a few nearby complexes and asking what the rents are when setting prices.
This only saved time, it wont change a thing.
Thought #1: So much for 'confidentiality'.
Thought #2: What's different from calling up a nearby competitor and asking 'how much can I get a 2BR apartment for?'
Yeah. That.
They are talking about rent-controlled properties, where the government decides what you can charge occupants for rent.
Nothing compared to 60 million illegals driving up rental costs and down worker wages at the same time.
It's called market research. Every industry does it.
It's more work. Unless you can get some independent AI agent to do it for you.
That said, I live in a RealPage run complex and I could definitely see the algorithm being run in the offers being given to me. There's no way the management is sophisticated enough to do this themselves.
All we did was check Craig’s List for rental units nearby and priced ours $5 under the highest. Don’t need any fancy software.
The method was doing nothing more than traditional market price discovery that merely used a modern method that really makes landlords more informed. The judge thinks landlords should not be more informed about their market. The results may not be what the judge thinks they will be, or should be.
So the software company was marketing a product that actually worked?
This is the real problem.
People who clean your house want to know the ‘going rate’ - same with every other profession. Doctors, lawyers, plumbers, construction workers etc etc etc... This is a capitalistic country. People charge what the market will bear. Same with truckers who own their own trucks, companies that build chips...kids who babysit...
Confidential? Aren’t rents usually available on Zillow, Realtor, Craigslist, etc?
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