RealPage Settles Antitrust Lawsuit with DOJ

RealPage’s antitrust tussle with the U.S. Department of Justice has come to an end.

The Texas-based real estate software provider announced today it reached a settlement with the DOJ over its alleged rent collusion scheme involving its revenue management software used in the multifamily rental market, the company shared in a statement.

Once a court approves the agreement, RealPage will be absolved of any financial penalties and admissions of wrongdoing and continue its operations, provided it commits to already-implemented changes to its platform and agrees to independent oversight to ensure it is complying with the DOJ’s requirements.

CEO Dirk Wakeham welcomed the outcome, saying the company believes “RealPage is part of the solution to addressing the cost of housing, helping operators make informed, independent decisions in a complex housing market.”

The settlement comes after a wide-reaching class action lawsuit implicated RealPage and landlords like Greystar and Brookfield; the DOJ’s suit raised industrywide questions about whether sharing aggregated, anonymized rent data, as is central in RealPage’s software, could be construed as collusion. RealPage insists the data historically pushed rents lower, not higher, and says the consent decree will “bless” the legality of its existing and future product tweaks, Stephen Weissman, part of RealPage’s legal representation and a former deputy director for the Federal Trade Commission, said.

Greystar and Brookfield were among the firms that struck deals with the DOJ prior to RealPage’s settlement. Last month, 27 landlords and property managers began the process of settling a class action suit that had roped them into the multi-state rent collusion allegations; in total, the settlement was estimated to be $141 million. Greystar solidified its $7 million settlement with nine states’ attorneys general last week.

As part of its settlement, Greystar is barred from using, seeking or sharing nonpublic information when it sets rents on its properties. That includes anything that could broadcast strategies for supply, demand or pricing, such as occupancy levels or another landlord’s revenue management processes.

— Chris Malone Méndez