Scott+Scott is a law firm committed to holding big business accountable. We are investigating a scheme affecting renters: corporate landlords are working together to raise rents to sky high levels. This kind of cooperation among competitors is illegal and makes rent higher than it should be. At the center of the alleged price fixing scheme is RealPage Inc., a software company that provides real estate owners and managers with the rent-setting software that allows them to work together.
ProPublica, an independent non-profit that investigates consumer issues, reported in October that the nation’s largest landlords use RealPage’s pricing algorithm to set higher rents and share information with each other. In November, multiple members of Congress demanded the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission investigate how RealPage was being used to rip off renters across the country.
In a healthy and fair market landlords and/or property management companies would have to compete on rent prices – keeping rent prices competitive and fair—not sky high like they are today. RealPage’s algorithm removes this competition and enables landlords to coordinate unjustified rental unit prices increases. As a result, renters are forced to participate in a rigged rental market and overpay for their rental housing.
Scott+Scott is working to solve this problem for renters harmed by this scheme and compensate them for their harms through litigation.
ARE YOU A RENTER? WOULD YOU LIKE TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS INVESTIGATION?
If you rented a residential unit within the last four years you may be eligible to participate in an antitrust claim against the lessors and the pricing software who manipulated rental housing pricings. To find out if you are eligible, please fill out the form below and an attorney will reach out to you to discuss your legal rights; there is no cost.