Property management software company RealPage has vowed to fight a civil antitrust lawsuit filed by the Justice Department, saying the suit’s claims are “devoid of merit.”
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the attorneys general of eight states filed the suit Friday (Aug. 23), alleging that RealPage’s pricing algorithm violates antitrust laws.
The suit alleges that the company unlawfully decreases competition among landlords in apartment pricing and monopolizes the market for software that landlords use to price apartments, the Justice Department said in a Friday press release.
“We allege that RealPage’s pricing algorithm enables landlords to share confidential, competitively sensitive information and align their rents,” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in the release. “Using software as the sharing mechanism does not immunize this scheme from Sherman Act liability, and the Justice Department will continue to aggressively enforce the antitrust laws and protect the American people from those who violate them.”
Reached for comment by PYMNTS, RealPage said in an emailed statement that it believes the Justice Department’s claims are “devoid of merit” and that the company intends to “vigorously defend” itself against the allegations.
RealPage has a long history of working with the Justice Department to show that its software is purposely built to be legally compliant, according to the statement. When the Justice Department granted antitrust clearance for the company’s acquisition of LRO in 2017, the agency also analyzed its revenue management products and did not object to them, per the statement.
“We are disappointed that, after multiple years of education and cooperation on the antitrust matters concerning RealPage, the DOJ has chosen this moment to pursue a lawsuit that seeks to scapegoat pro-competitive technology that has been used responsibly for years,” RealPage said in its Friday statement. “It is merely a distraction from the fundamental economic and political issues driving inflation throughout our economy — and housing affordability in particular — which should be the focus of policymakers in Washington, D.C.”
Before the filing of the Friday lawsuit, RealPage addressed “false and misleading claims” about the company and its revenue management software in a June statement and in a detailed statement.
The company was acquired by private equity firm Thoma Bravo in December 2020 for $10.2 billion, including debt assumption.
The eight states that joined the Justice Department in filing the lawsuit announced Friday include California, Colorado, Connecticut, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oregon, Tennesseeand Washington, according to the press release.
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