UNITED STATE Attorney General Merrick Garland talks with press reporters throughout a short press conference at the Justice Department in Washington, UNITED STATE, May 4, 2023.
Kevin Lamarque|Reuters
The Department of Justice and 8 states on Friday implicated software application firm RealPage of illegally unscrupulous to weaken competitors amongst proprietors and produce a syndicate that damages numerous occupants.
RealPage “allows landlords to manipulate, distort, and subvert market forces,” the Justice Department stated in a civil complaint in UNITED STATE District Court in North Carolina.
“At bottom, RealPage is an algorithmic intermediary that collects, combines, and exploits landlords’ competitively sensitive information,” the antitrust suit stated.
“And in so doing, it enriches itself and compliant landlords at the expense of renters who pay inflated prices and honest businesses that would otherwise compete,” the DOJ affirmed.
Attorney General Merrick Garland in an interview Friday early morning placed it extra candidly: “Everybody knows the rent is too damn high, and we allege this is one of the reasons why.”
The suit notes the very first time that the federal government has actually implicated a business of functioning to methodically overturn the policies of free-market competitors making use of mathematical formulas.
“Antitrust law does not become obsolete simply because competitors find new ways to unlawfully act in concert,” Garland stated.
“And Americans should not have to pay more in rent simply because a company has found a new way to scheme with landlords to break the law.”
The DOJ is participated in its suit by the chief law officers of North Carolina, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Minnesota, Oregon, Tennessee and Washington.
This is damaging information. Please inspect back for updates.
— ‘s Eamon Javers added to this record.
