Wexler Boley & Elgersma is currently investigating claims that several of the country’s largest landlords and property managers engaged in an alleged conspiracy to artificially inflate rental prices levels through the use of a third-party software algorithm. If you are a renter who was harmed as a result of this alleged scheme, contact Wexler Boley & Elgersma today to file a claim.
Landlords and property managers have historically faced backlash for unscrupulous business tactics, which seem to evolve with the advancement of technology. A recent investigation by ProPublica revealed that a number of major residential landlords and property management companies – including Greystar Real Estate Partners, Lincoln Property Company, Equity Residential, and BH Management Services – illegally exchanged and agreed upon prices using data analytics software developed by RealPage, Inc.
AI Revenue Management (also known as YieldStar, LRO, or AI Forecasting) is a piece of real estate software developed and sold by RealPage that is advertised as a “game-changing innovation in price optimization that maximizes asset value.” The software uses an advanced proprietary algorithm to set the prices of landlords’ apartments across the country. RealPage’s software not only uses information about the apartment to be priced and the property in which it is located, but also private data about the rents of nearby competitors. The daily pricing and ongoing revenue oversight gets outsourced to RealPage once a landlord joins the AI Revenue Management platform, where previously these decisions were independently made by landlords to maximize occupancy and attract renters with competitive pricing.
According to the lawsuit, the alleged scheme operates on the basic principle that the more property managers who sign up for RealPage’s services, the more data flows into the company’s repository. And while the company claims its software will increase revenue and decrease vacancies, it continues to urge landlords and other property managers to reduce supply while increasing price. This has allegedly resulted in a manipulation of market forces that has forced renters to pay artificially inflated prices and “pushed out” countless renters who could no longer afford the increased prices.
“How Do I Know if I Have a Case?”
RealPage proudly touts its reach, which spans over 16 million individual units in the United States. Their software is utilized by a number of major residential landlords and property management firms across the country, including:
- Avenue5 Residential
- BH Management Services
- Cushman & Wakefield
- Equity Residential
- FPI Management
- Greystar Real Estate Partners
- Lincoln Property Co.
- Mid-America Apartment Communities
- Security Properties, Inc.
- Thrive Communities Management
- UDR, Inc.
If you are a current or former renter of a residential property from one of these landlords, you may have the right to file a rental rate antitrust lawsuit claim. Contact Wexler Boley & Elgersma for a free and confidential case evaluation.