US v. RealPage, Inc.

Summary

The US Justice Department and eight state attorneys general filed a civil antitrust lawsuit against RealPage, a property management software company, for "its unlawful scheme to decrease competition among landlords in apartment pricing and to monopolize the market for commercial revenue management software that landlords use to price apartments." The DOJ claims that RealPage contracts with competing landlords, who share sensitive, non-public information with the company, and then uses this information to generate recommendations for participating landlords based on their and their rivals’ competitively sensitive information. The suit alleges that this "algorithm pricing scheme" is in violation of Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act.

Updates

September 26, 2024. Realpage filed a motion to transfer the suit to either the Middle District of Tennessee or the Northern District of Texas circuit courts. The defendant argues that litigating this case in a court that has handled earlier-filed private litigation with closely related claims, and where the DOJ has already appeared and argued, would "avoid the risk of inconsistent judgments."

October 17, 2024. The US government filed an opposition brief in response to Realpage's motion to transfer the case. The plaintiff argues that Realpage's "anticompetitive conduct" was adopted by a "substantial share of landlords" within North Carolina more so than in any other state.

October 31, 2024. Realpage files a reply brief to the plaintiff's motion to dismiss the US' initial motion to transfer the suit.

Additional Resources

US v. RealPage, Inc. (1:24-cv-00710) - CourtListener