Prosecutors say a tech company is helping landlords work together to drive up rents. The lawsuit's outcome could change how we pay for everything.
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The Lede
Landlords have a lot of built-in leverage over renters. Over the past few years, the playing field tilted further in favor of landlords. Rents soared thanks to a shortage of apartment units, remote workers' desire for more space, and a daunting for-sale market that kept many renters stuck in place.
Key Details
- Big-time apartment owners, it turns out, also had a secret weapon: a Texas company called RealPage, which sells software to property managers to help them set rents and juice their profits.
- In a new lawsuit against the company, Kris Mayes, Arizona's attorney general, offered a translation: "This is price fixing, and it is illegal."
- The cases offer a revealing glimpse at how corporate apartment owners rely on technology to wring every last dollar out of tenants.