Remen Okoruwa’s Post

Big Cities Take Up Fight Against Algorithm-Based Rents The federal government's price-fixing lawsuit against rental-software firm RealPage might be a marathon, not a sprint, but several cities and states are not waiting for the outcome. They're taking decisive action now. San Francisco and Philadelphia have recently passed laws to restrict the use of algorithmic rent-pricing systems at residential properties. These laws aim to curb the potential for software like RealPage's to coordinate rent pricing, which could lead to artificially high rents. Legislators in San Diego, New Jersey, and other regions are actively considering similar measures to regulate these technologies in the apartment industry. This push comes in the wake of allegations that RealPage's software has been used to illegally coordinate rent pricing across approximately three million apartments nationwide. The urgency to act is driven by the pressing need to control housing costs. As Nicolas O’Rourke, a city councilman in Philadelphia, aptly put it, "We are living in a time where we’re not waiting for AI and algorithms to get here. They’re here." This local legislative action signifies a broader movement to protect consumers from what some see as manipulative pricing practices enabled by tech. It's a clear signal that while the legal battle with RealPage unfolds, cities are not standing idle. For more details, check out the full article by Will Parker in The Wall Street Journal: https://lnkd.in/gyx3R-Rv #HousingPolicy #RealEstate #TechRegulation #ConsumerProtection #Unitbroker #Telarus

San Francisco and Philadelphia are leading efforts to regulate rent-setting software that uses nonpublic data, aiming to address concerns over rising housing costs. These cities have enacted laws restricting such algorithms, empowering tenants to take legal action against noncompliant landlords. Other regions, including San Diego and states like New York and Colorado, are considering similar measures.  This movement follows a federal lawsuit against RealPage, a company accused of facilitating price-fixing through its software. While RealPage denies these allegations, it has adjusted its services to allow landlords to opt out of using nonpublic data.  Critics argue that focusing on rent algorithms diverts attention from the fundamental issue of housing supply shortages. Click the link below to read more. ⤵️ https://elite.ag/x2j173 #realestate #eliteagent #eliteagentmag #realestateagent #RealEstateNews #HousingMarket #RentControl #PropertyManagement

This is the wrong war to fight. Restricting AI price discovery in property management software isn't going to make a dent in apartment rents. Apartments were already the most efficient market in real estate. Software or no software, getting rental comps is not hard. Also, it's not magic. If a landlord prices too high, tenants quickly leave. If city officials want to find the culprit behind high rents, they should look in the mirror. Rezone. Approve more housing. Stop playing at the margins and solve the problem. https://lnkd.in/gTHKysc9

Housing is extremely difficult to regulate or promote at the national level. The anti-trust lawsuit against revenue management platforms is a unique example of a Federal effort to impact rental housing. As that case has stalled however, local governments are accelerating their own push for regulation. This feels very similar to the rent control initiatives we've seen over the past ten years. We remain in a housing shortage across the country and rental housing is a critical component of that shortage. As more local governments put up barriers to entry, the housing shortage will be accentuated. In time, the existing housing stock will become less affordable. Those markets that are willing and open to expanding rental housing and limiting restrictions will not only benefit from a more balanced housing market, but will emerge as more attractive to business investment, migration and economic growth.

🚨 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐀𝐥𝐠𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐦𝐬 𝐇𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: 𝐃𝐎𝐉 𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐢𝐱 𝐋𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐀𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐕𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐑𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠🚨 The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), alongside Attorneys General from 10 states, has filed a lawsuit against six prominent landlords for allegedly engaging in anti-competitive practices that inflated rents for millions of American tenants. 𝐖𝐡𝐨’𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐝? 📝 Key players include real estate giants such as Greystar, LivCor (Blackstone), Camden Property Trust, Cushman & Wakefield, Willow Bridge, and Cortland. Together, these companies manage over 1.3 million rental units across 43 states and the District of Columbia. At the heart of the issue is the use of RealPage’s algorithmic pricing software, which allegedly allowed landlords to: 🔹 Share competitively sensitive information such as rents and occupancy rates 🔹 Coordinate pricing strategies 🔹 Maintain artificially high rental prices According to the DOJ, this conduct harmed competition by reducing price-setting independence and driving up costs for renters, putting millions of families under financial strain. ⚖️ 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 This case highlights critical concerns under U.S. antitrust law: ▫️Collusion through algorithms: The landlords allegedly used shared data to align rent increases across markets. ▫️Market power concentration: The scale and scope of the defendants’ combined operations raise significant competition law issues regarding the control of rental pricing. ▫️Consumer harm: With millions of rental units under their management, the defendants' conduct potentially impacted housing affordability for large portions of the population. In a significant development, Cortland has agreed to a settlement, committing to cooperate with the DOJ and cease using algorithmic pricing tools that rely on competitors’ data. #competitionlawyer #competitionlaw #antitrust

The federal government’s price-fixing lawsuit against rental-software firm RealPage could take years to resolve. Rather than wait, some cities and states are already cracking down on the company. San Francisco and Philadelphia passed laws in recent months to restrict the use of algorithmic rent-pricing systems at residential properties. Legislators in San Diego, New Jersey and other cities and states are considering new laws. The growing push to regulate technologies in the apartment industry comes amid government allegations that the rental software offered by RealPage illegally coordinates rent pricing at approximately three million apartments nationwide. In August, the Justice Department and eight state attorneys general sued RealPage in one of the most sweeping legal actions ever taken by the U.S. government against a private company in the rental-housing industry. The department alleges the company illegally collects and crunches confidential data to help landlords set rents, an arrangement prosecutors said results in inflated rents for tenants, while also violating antitrust laws. RealPage denies the allegations and says its landlords aren’t required to use its price recommendations. But the company has already agreed to make at least one change in response to some of the new legislation, allowing its users to opt out of the nonpublic-data component of its service. “We are living in a time where we’re not waiting for AI and algorithms to get here. They’re here,” said Nicolas O’Rourke, a city councilman in Philadelphia. O’Rourke sponsored the bill banning the use of certain rent-pricing software that passed the council in a 17-to-0 vote last month. Two progressive policy-advocacy groups, Local Progress and the American Economic Liberties Project, drafted a memo earlier this year that formed the basis for antirent-software ordinances passed in San Francisco and Philadelphia. Similar laws have been drafted or discussed throughout the country, including in Chicago, San Jose, Calif., San Diego and Jersey City, N.J. State legislatures in New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Colorado have also considered new measures to regulate rent algorithms.

Philadelphia has become the second major U.S. city to ban landlords' use of algorithmic software like RealPage to set multifamily rents — a preemptive move as lawsuits alleging price-fixing make their way through the court system. The city council passed the ordinance with a veto-proof unanimous vote on Friday. Once it is signed into law, anyone ignoring the order would face a fine of up to $2K per violation. They could also be sued by the city and current or prospective tenants. To read the full article, head to:  https://lnkd.in/g46jYNrA For more Mid-Atlantic commercial real estate news, follow us on LinkedIn. To learn more about Philadelphia Real Estate Council visit https://precouncil.org/  #realestatenews #PREC #realestate #philadelphiarealestate #CommercialRealEstate #CRE #RealEstateInvesting #IndustrialProperty #PropertyManagement #InvestmentProperty #CommercialProperty #AssetManagement #CommercialBrokerage #PropertyInvestment #PropertyPortfolio #CREIndustry #PropertyValues #CommercialRealtor #RealEstateMarket

"The U.S. Department of Justice is gearing up to challenge what it says is collusive conduct in the #rental #housing market with a lawsuit against a software company that it believes allows large landlords to fix prices. The DOJ is planning to sue RealPage, Inc., a software company used by landlords across the country... DOJ staff recently recommended a civil lawsuit against RealPage that would accuse the company of selling software that enables landlords to illegally share confidential pricing information in order to collude on setting rents... Also on the table for a complaint is the landlords’ ability to use the software to match vacancy rates, essentially restricting supply, at competing buildings in the same rental market... The DOJ has also prioritized so-called #algorithmic price-fixing..." #antitrust #competition #compliance

Is This Really Collusion or Just Market Efficiency? I came across this recently and found it confusing. The lawsuits against RealPage argue that landlords are colluding to drive up rents, but isn’t this just data-driven decision-making? RealPage doesn’t dictate pricing—it provides insights based on market trends, vacancies, and supply-demand dynamics. If a market is oversupplied, the software actually recommends lowering rents to stay competitive. Blaming technology for rising rents oversimplifies the real issue: a severe housing shortage. Supply and demand—not software—ultimately determine pricing. Rather than banning tools that help landlords make informed decisions, policymakers should focus on what actually moves the needle: increasing housing supply, streamlining development, and reducing barriers to new construction. Demonizing landlords and technology won’t solve the affordability crisis. Perhaps I’m missing something—would be curious to hear the argument for eliminating this type of algorithm. #housing #maryland #cre #realestate #apartments #greysteel #realpage https://lnkd.in/e_vtDyAV

"Landlords are being sued for using illegal price-fixing to drive up rents across the country. They allegedly conspired with RealPage, a tech company, to use non-public data to artificially inflate rents. Rents have spiked by 26% since the pandemic." "Landlords and property managers can’t collude on rental pricing. Using new technology to do it doesn’t change that antitrust fundamental. Regardless of the industry you’re in, if your business uses an algorithm to determine prices, a brief filed by the FTC and the Department of Justice offers a helpful guideline for antitrust compliance: your algorithm can’t do anything that would be illegal if done by a real person." Want to learn more? Link to Federal Trade Commission : https://lnkd.in/gKdkhi4D Video of More Perfect Union: https://lnkd.in/gnAFDapD