Latest news with #NewJerseyAntitrustAct
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
New Jersey sues RealPage, 10 landlords
This story was originally published on Multifamily Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Multifamily Dive newsletter. New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and the state's Division of Consumer Affairs have sued RealPage and 10 of the largest landlords operating in the state. In the suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey last Wednesday, Platkin alleges that the Richardson, Texas-based software company and the apartment operators engaged in multiple violations of the federal Sherman Act, the New Jersey Antitrust Act and the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act. Echoing other suits against RealPage, New Jersey accused the company and landlords of colluding to set rents for apartments statewide based on the company's algorithmic pricing software and to exchange sensitive, non-public information to align their prices and avoid competition that would otherwise keep rent prices down. In the process, the plaintiffs alleged thousands of New Jerseyans have overpaid for rent. The attorney general said renters throughout the state, which has some of the highest rental costs in the country, face a highly concentrated market, where individual landlords control thousands of apartments. 'The defendants in this case unlawfully lined their pockets at the expense of New Jersey renters who struggled to pay the increasingly unlivable price levels imposed by this cartel,' Platkin said in a news release. 'Today we're holding them accountable for unlawful conduct that fueled the state's affordable housing crisis and deprived New Jerseyans of their fundamental right to shelter.' The complaint names the following companies: Aion Management AvalonBay Communities Bozzuto Cammeby's Management Co. of New Jersey Greystar Kamson Corp. LeFrak Estates and its subsidiary, Realty Operations Group Morgan Properties Russo Property Management Veris Residential The complaint also references additional New Jersey landlords as unnamed co-conspirators. The state said that additional defendants may be named. New Jersey's complaint alleges that the RealPage software is anticompetitive because it restricts price reductions and facilitates collective action to raise rents. It states that RealPage enforces adherence to its recommendations through automatic price acceptance, compliance tracking, 'secret shop' tests and direct oversight by RealPage employees to ensure landlords stay in line. If landlords deviate from RealPage's recommendations, they risk corrective actions from RealPage and from their peers using the system, according to the complaint. The suit also accuses the landlords of collaborating outside of the property management system by sharing sensitive, real-time data on occupancy rates, leasing activity, concessions and pricing strategies. It alleges that they coordinated tactics through user groups, secret shops and industry meetings. The lawsuit seeks several remedies, including: An injunction to stop the defendants from engaging in what the Attorney General's office calls anticompetitive and consumer fraud practices. The appointment of a corporate monitor — at the defendants' expense — to ensure implementation of all structural or practice remedies ordered by the court and not to engage in further unlawful conduct. Equitable relief, civil penalties and damages, and the disgorgement of any profits generated in New Jersey through unlawful behavior. None of the landlords named in the lawsuit responded to Multifamily Dive's request for comment on the case. RealPage Senior Vice President of Communications and Creative Jennifer Bowcock said Platkin was recycling inaccuracies of predecessor cases to blame RealPage for the state's housing affordability challenges. 'Today's action against RealPage was a surprise, as there were no efforts by them to engage with RealPage prior to filing the lawsuit, further underscoring the problem with this process and the politics in play,' Bowcock said. Bowcock said RealPage's revenue management software was built to be legally compliant and has always used data legally and responsibly. 'RealPage's revenue management software helps housing providers comply with Fair Housing laws, rent control laws and state of emergency price gouging laws, and does not use any personal or demographic data to generate rent price recommendations,' she said. Click here to sign up to receive multifamily and apartment news like this article in your inbox every weekday. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
New Jersey sues landlords, software company over rent-fixing claims
Attorney General Matt Platkin said RealPage and almost a dozen property-management firms colluded to drive up apartment rents. (Dana DiFilippo | New Jersey Monitor) Attorney General Matt Platkin sued 10 of New Jersey's largest landlords and RealPage Inc., a property management software company, accusing them of colluding to raise rents in violation of state and federal antitrust and consumer protection laws. In a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday, Platkin said the alleged scheme forced tens of thousands of apartment renters to overpay and contributed to the state's shortage of affordable housing. 'The skyrocketing rental prices that we're experiencing in New Jersey are not the result of mere competition or mysterious market forces. What we are seeing and what so many hard-working New Jerseyans are experiencing is the result of deliberate market manipulation. So today, we filed a lawsuit to stop it,' Platkin said during a midday briefing with reporters in Newark. The action comes two years after a D.C.-based watchdog nonprofit, released a report exposing 'housing profiteering.' The group urged officials in several states, including Platkin, to act on the issue in 2023 and again last year. Platkin did not mention the report or call to action Wednesday. He said RealPage and the landlords set apartment rents based on RealPage's algorithmic pricing software and aligned their prices to avoid competition that otherwise would have checked runaway rents. In so doing, Platkin said, they violated the federal Sherman Act, the New Jersey Antitrust Act, and the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act. Named as defendants are: RealPage; Morgan Properties Management Company; AvalonBay Communities Inc.; Kamson Corporation; LeFrak Estates and its subsidiary Realty Operations Group; Greystar Management Services; Aion Management; Cammeby's Management Company of New Jersey; Veris Residential Inc.; Russo Property Management; and Bozzuto Management Company. Additional defendants may be added, as the investigation remains ongoing, Platkin's office said. Platkin accused the companies of 'unconscionable business practices that deceive and mislead consumers into believing the rental prices that they charge are market rate.' Instead, he said, the companies shared confidential, proprietary information and used RealPage's 'anticompetitive algorithm' to set rents, which ballooned prices. 'These defendants work together as a rent-setting cartel conspiring to make themselves richer by preying on the thousands of New Jerseyans just looking for a safe, affordable place to live,' Platkin said. Platkin pointed to a Harvard University study last year that found that half of New Jersey renters are cost-burdened, meaning they spend more than 30% of their income on rent. By suing, Platkin added, he wants to stop RealPage and landlords from 'ripping off the people of New Jersey.' He's asking a judge to appoint a corporate monitor, at the defendants' expense, to carry out court remedies and ensure the alleged scheme does not continue. 'I'm not going to tolerate corporate greed that violates the law and hurts our residents,' he said. 'Our lawsuit today is seeking to make RealPage both stop their illegal conduct and pay back their illegal profits.' RealPage did not respond to a request for comment. Mike Semko, the company's associate general counsel, told lawmakers last year that the claims made against RealPage are 'patently, categorically false.' The Legislature is considering a bill that would bar landlords from using algorithmic software to set rent prices. Caroline Ciccone, president of welcomed the lawsuit. 'As everyday costs continue to rise for Americans, it's critical that elected officials step up and tackle price-gougers like RealPage, whose algorithm is set up to allow corporate landlords to push rental rates to historic highs,' Ciccone said. 'We applaud Attorney General Platkin for fighting for New Jersey renters and putting an end to this potentially illegal price-fixing scheme.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
