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marketrent OP t1_itoonk9 wrote

Texas-based RealPage Inc. provides software and services to the real estate industry.

The complaint, filed in the Southern District of California against RealPage Inc. and nine landlords, claims they violated Section 1 of the Sherman Antitrust Act by eliminating natural imbalances and competitive pricing for multifamily residential real estate leases.

The complaint also quotes from a marketing video used to attract additional real estate clients, in which a RealPage Vice President discusses the recent and never-before seen price increases for residential real estate leases, as high as 14.5% in some markets. When another RealPage executive asks: “What role has the [RealPage] software played” in those increases, the RealPage Vice President responded: “I think it’s driving it, quite honestly.”

(Link submitted 25 October 2022 04:10 UTC.)

152

DookieDemon t1_itoox0r wrote

Scummy bastards.

Software development in the real estate market needs to be heavily scrutinized because this is just the tip of the iceberg. Black Knight and Black Rock also do this shit.

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Hobash t1_itos9fa wrote

They have similar software for the new and used car market.

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BlackPrincessPeach_ t1_itot0ag wrote

Finally glad this is getting some media coverage.

#Landlords across the country have been engaging in Illegal Price Fixing, under the BS of “market rate algo software”

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arjedu t1_itou8wq wrote

Wait till you guys learn who out there is Not using palantir. Lol.

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joedev007 t1_itouzxl wrote

yawn...

"i could afford my bills if only this software didn't exist"

LOL

−79

tetoffens t1_itozg6w wrote

Replying to joedev007 (#214,552)

Sorry, are you saying price fixing isn't a real thing? Why do you suck off rich people who fuck people over? It's not like having a place to live is a luxury, people don't have a choice but to pay.

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joedev007 t1_itp0c77 wrote

Replying to tetoffens (#214,991)

Landlords doing business in a way that insures they turn a profit and have the funds to PROPERLY maintain their properties and pay their taxes helps all of us.

where you choose to live is indeed a luxury or we would all live on the pacific ocean in Malibu or in Aspen LOL

−71

arjedu t1_itp2osf wrote

Maybe the renters should start using AI software to find the best deal.

Oh wait they already can.

−50

MF_Kitten t1_itp8oxd wrote

Replying to joedev007 (#215,067)

You clearly have no idea how much of a cutthroat industry professional "landlording" is in America. It truly is sickening, and your comment makes it seem like we are talking about someone renting out their basement apartment or something.

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joedev007 t1_itp9vay wrote

Replying to ILoveShitRats (#215,598)

"if my landlord loses enough money renting to me...

AND the prices are held artificially low by ignorance of market conditions, demand and value...

for LONG ENOUGH...

One day I will be treated fairly..."

it's a hard argument to make. you should want your landlord to charge you the proper amount for the market you are renting in - so every single thing THAT WILL COME UP is taken care of without hesitation. From new sidewalks without cracks our seniors can trip over, to new hot water heaters, air filters and central air...

the cheap/broke renter is the "I want to fly a discount airline that skips maintenance" argument.

−40

usrevenge t1_itp9zo6 wrote

Replying to joedev007 (#215,067)

Lol what a moron.

Land lord expenses don't significantly raise. In fact they drop.

If you bought your property to rent out in 2015 and rented it out until 2020 you probably paid off most of the mortgage anyway. Meanwhile these shitfucks would raise rent on top of paying less in expenses

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joedev007 t1_itpasjh wrote

Replying to usrevenge (#215,855)

lol yes because property taxes going only going down

because water bills are going down

because maintenance costs are going down

back to your mom's basement glad to know you own nothing - or own it in an area no one wants to live in that does not have municipal workers making $200K a year PLUS benefits :)

−12

EatTheShroomz t1_itpdg50 wrote

You’ll hear a lot of words like “accused” and “allegedly” regarding this case. And I’m assuming they’re likely to only get a slap on the wrist for this. But regardless of what the courts decide, know that these fucks are very very guilty and you should look into and be very very aware of their practices. This has been a public service announcement. You have been notified.

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usrevenge t1_itpgmyj wrote

Replying to joedev007 (#215,916)

You are special.

Even if property tax assessments doubled and water bills doubled and every other utility doubled in price that would still be like 10% increase in rent not 100%.

Let's do the math.

You buy your rental home in 2015 for $150,000 the rent would easily be $900-1000 or probably more.

If you put 20% down which since it's a rental you kinda have to do that at a minimum your monthly payment for the house and taxes etc is $800. That's 1% property tax which is pretty standard

Now according to you. If we double the property tax. The math makes it out that rent should double.

Let's do that

If we double property tax it's $3000 a year. That means the total amount goes up about $150 per month.

Here is the kicker. Rent didn't go up $150. Rent didn't go up $200.

Rent has been going up 50% or more since that time The $1000 house you rented in 2015 is probably $1800 a month today.

So yea you deserve the down votes and everyone making fun of you.

11

asdaaaaaaaa t1_itpgqbp wrote

Replying to joedev007 (#215,067)

> Landlords doing business in a way that insures they turn a profit and have the funds to PROPERLY maintain their properties and pay their taxes helps all of us.

Except when it doesn't, and they take advantage of people. Unless you're living in the fantasy that some landlords don't take advantage of others, or taking advantage of others isn't a bad thing, I don't think you've thought that out as much as you need to.

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joedev007 t1_itpi9cy wrote

Replying to usrevenge (#216,426)

you're assuming that a good part of the increases are not...

  1. to invest more money in developing the property/properties held by this landlord.
  2. to fund capital improvements (in ground pool, led lighting, solar panels, tesla power walls, new playground)
  3. to filter who lives there by way of turnover
  4. to fund the landlord's lifestyle. it costs time and effort to manage a property, offset the non-payment tenants losses, legal, advertising of properties, etc.

imagine IF you applied your logic to concert tickets, weed, sneakers, alcohol...

Holy cow it's America and landlords want to live the same lifestyle the people you pay to see at lollapalooza or sportsball do

LOL

−3

Ksh_667 t1_itppqd2 wrote

Landlords always have been & always will be scum.

13

malphonso t1_itpqdqd wrote

Replying to joedev007 (#215,067)

Landlords are parasites who contribute nothing. They create an artificial scarcity of a resource required for life then expect others to pay for their "investment". And you think people should be grateful for that?

7

mf-TOM-HANK t1_itpqk6t wrote

Replying to EatTheShroomz (#216,121)

>This has been a public service announcement. You have been notified.

Rent is still due on the 1st whether I'm aware of these allegations or not. When does this "bad news" for RealPage translate into lower rent? Next year? 5 years? Never? Pandora has already opened the box.

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gimmiesnacks t1_itpz3oa wrote

Replying to mf-TOM-HANK (#217,491)

Right? I live in a huge greystar complex, sorrounded by other greystar complexes, and my rent is going up 10% in November. They absolutely refused to negotiate. There’s nowhere else to live here.

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ravenflavin77 t1_itpzvyr wrote

Private equity firms buying up rental properties has done more to drive up rents in the US than any other factor. I worked at a property that was privately owned. They sold out to a private equity firm which immediately raised all our rents $150. Every year after that residents could expect a rent increase of 10-30%. I no longer work there but I hate to see what they've done rent wise since the pandemic.

6

SockFullOfNickles t1_itq62g1 wrote

The guy who made this program was accused of colluding with other airlines in the 80s for price fixing. The Justice Dept got involved and there was a huge settlement. Seems like he’s back at his usual tricks. This are flagrant anti-trust violations. Where are all my belligerent “FrEe MaRkEt Is BeSt MaRkEt” people at?

14

ravenflavin77 t1_itqgpo5 wrote

Replying to SockFullOfNickles (#219,394)

What guy would that be?

I recall using this software at my old job. It's a product of a pretty large company. The training manual is an enormous binder. You can spend weeks training on this software.

EDIT: Nevermind, read the Propublica piece.

3

InferiousX t1_itqsbj7 wrote

Replying to BlackPrincessPeach_ (#214,367)

I wouldn't even use the phrase "landlords" as much as it's more like these big conglomerate companies that buy up swaths of housing.

But I'm with you. This is a big problem and a big reason some people are having to chose between getting groceries and getting gas that week. Everyone needs a place to live and these fuckers have found a way to leverage that need into more profits.

I'm not sure what the answer is here but these companies need some regulation.

17

Aazadan t1_itqtx9v wrote

Replying to mf-TOM-HANK (#217,491)

Get the word out, and get pissed off. Elect politicians to change the laws regarding what these companies are legally allowed to do.

That's a fix in 10 years, if enough agree with you.

4

InferiousX t1_itr1maj wrote

Replying to InsuranceToTheRescue (#222,790)

I get it but the point is that it's not like "oh i can call the landlord for XYZ".

I have to go through a dysfunctional property management company that returns 1/3rd of their phone calls and emails and they in turn go to another corp. It's a bunch of layers between the renter and owner that wasn't nearly as common 10-15 years ago.

4

HomeHeatingTips t1_its8goq wrote

Replying to Hobash (#214,285)

the car market is largely offer driven though. So a company can market an asking price, but the buyer usually comes in with an offer that sometimes can be thousands less than asking. So the true selling price is never really disclosed publicly.

1

Hobash t1_itsa3vm wrote

Replying to HomeHeatingTips (#227,948)

I know, the software I'm talking about uses APIs to get the non-public data from private dealerships. Works the same for this real estate story, look up LRO, Yieldstar it's all APIs grabbing data from individual private databases, consolidating that with real page's algorithm then it spits suggested pricing back to the private database.

4

arjedu t1_itw8t7c wrote

Replying to bshepp (#220,259)

Lol. my company uses onesite. I work in real estate. This case has zero standing. Properties are subscribing for a service that analyses market rents in real time. They are competitors not colluders. Idiot renters throwing s*** on the wall hoping it sticks. Watch this case get tossed quickly. I've been following palantirs ascent since they went public. Thinking that this is anything close to it on a monopoly shows their lack of understanding on any of these issues other than crying about rents being high. This is reddit so the idiot masses with similar mentalities such as yours will howl, downvote, and be the victim of whatever is in vouge.

1