Summary
The U.S. Justice Department, joined by 10 states, has sued six major landlords and RealPage, a company behind a rent-setting algorithm, accusing them of colluding to keep rents high by sharing sensitive pricing data and avoiding competition.
The landlords, operating over 1.3 million units, allegedly used RealPage’s algorithm and coordination to align rents, exacerbating the housing crisis.
One landlord has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.
Critics argue this scheme worsens affordability issues for renters, who already face record rent burdens amid a strained housing market.
People think too small when it comes to stuff like this. One individual land lord company doing this isn’t a big deal. But when you scale that up to a national level? We’re talking about millions of homes going empty, misused, and siphoned off for only greed.
I’d say even one landlord is too many, but easier to deal with. The scale this seems to be happening at is mind boggling and should be criminal, in my opinion. Or whatever it takes to stop this.