TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Azya Thornton on Aug 26, 2024

Tennessee has joined a federal antitrust lawsuit against RealPage, a software company that helps its clients set apartment rental prices. The complaint, filed Friday on behalf of the federal government and seven states, accuses RealPage of hindering fair competition by providing a price-sharing software that suggests monthly rent prices to real estate companies based on vacancies and other participants’ rent charges. The lawsuit alleges that the company "subverts competition and the competitive process ... openly and directly."  The company came under scrutiny in 2022 after ProPublica published an investigation featuring RealPage leadership boasting about rent increases in Nashville. In addition to fair market complaints from small landlords, renters’ rights groups have criticized the company for driving rental costs up amid a nationwide affordable housing crisis. Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti said in a press release Friday that his office has been looking into RealPage since 2023 and was “glad to be part of this bipartisan effort to protect consumers and hold RealPage accountable.” Axios has the story.