DOJ alleges RealPage helped landlords coordinate rental prices

WASHINGTON − The Justice Department and attorneys general from eight states filed a lawsuit Friday alleging a Dallas company, RealPage, collected sensitive information from landlords nationwide that allegedly made it easier for them to coordinate and raise prices for millions of renters nationwide.

RealPage provides software to landlords to help manage 16 million rental units nationwide, largely in the Sun Belt and South. The federal lawsuit filed in North Carolina alleges RealPage holds a monopoly in what is called “revenue management software” for landlords because the company controls 80% of the market nationwide.

The lawsuit contends that by sharing sensitive information from landlords about rents, leases and vacancy rates, RealPage helps them collude to avoid competition and raise prices. Without RealPage’s information and recommendations about the rents that competitors are charging and the vacancies that are available, landlords are able to charge higher prices or avoid offering concessions such as a month without rent, according to the lawsuit.