RealPage explained

Traded As:NASDAQ: (before acquisition)
Type:Private
Industry:Software
Hq Location:Richardson, Texas
Key People:Dana Jones (CEO)
Owner:Thoma Bravo

RealPage, Inc. is an American multinational corporation that provides property management software for the multifamily, commercial, single-family, and vacation rental housing industries. Its services are used to manage more than 24 million housing units worldwide.[1] Dana Jones is chairman of the board and chief executive officer.[2]

History

RealPage was founded in 1998 with the acquisition of Rent Roll, Inc.,[3] a provider of on-premises property management systems for the conventional and affordable multifamily rental housing markets.

RealPage moved its corporate headquarters to Richardson, Texas in 2016, and in 2017 acquired four companies: apartment market data provider Axiometrics; utility and energy management company American Utility Management; revenue management and pricing provider Lease Rent Options; and On-Site, a leasing and marketing platform company.[4]

In 2018, RealPage announced an agreement to purchase electronic payment platform company ClickPay, located in Hackensack, New Jersey.[5]

In July 2019, RealPage acquired utility management company SimpleBills.[6]

In December 2019, RealPage acquired Buildium.[7]

In January 2020, RealPage has agreed to acquire Modern Message, Inc.[8]

In September 2020, RealPage acquired real estate IoT startup Stratis.[9]

In December 2020, private-equity firm Thoma Bravo announced it would acquire RealPage for $9.6 billion, paying $88.75 per share for the company, a premium of 31% for their closing prices at the time. Its shares were reported up 26% that year.[10] The acquisition completed in April 2021.[11]

In January 2021, RealPage acquired bulk Internet provider WhiteSky.[12]

Reactions and lawsuits

RealPage has been accused of antitrust violations and price fixing in the rental market.[13] Lawsuits against RealPage make the claim that if it is illegal for an individual to engage in price fixing, then it should be illegal when it is done by software or algorithm.[14] The lawsuits also accuse RealPage of pressuring its customers to comply with their pricing suggestions.

Lawsuits

In October 2022, ProPublica reported that landlords use RealPage's asset optimization algorithm called YieldStar (later rebranded as AI Revenue Management) to increase rents throughout the United States, naming its users an illegal cartel that encouraged participants to withhold rental units from the market. Overwhelmingly, approximately 90% of property managers/landlords approve price change suggestions by the software. RealPage's software strongly discourages landlord users from negotiating asking rent prices with tenants.[15]

In November 2022, the United States Department of Justice's Antitrust Division opened an investigation into RealPage, which is accused of contributing to higher rent prices throughout the United States. The company's YieldStar software is alleged to use an algorithm to "help landlords push the highest possible rents on tenants."[16]

In November 2023, Attorney General of the District of Columbia Brian Schwalb filed an antitrust price-fixing lawsuit against RealPage and more than a dozen of the largest apartment building landlords in Washington, D.C., accusing them of illegally conspiring to set rental prices artificially high by sharing competitively sensitive data using RealPage's revenue management platform.[17]

In April 2023, more than 20 private civil antitrust lawsuits against RealPage, which had been filed primarily on behalf of renters of multifamily apartments and which alleged that the company illegally conspired to keep prices above market rates, were consolidated in federal court in Nashville, Tennessee.[18] In November 2023, the US Justice Department filed a "statement of interest" in support of the lawsuits, arguing that the use of shared data and algorithms must "be subject to the same condemnation" as other price-fixing schemes.[19] [20] In December 2023, Chief US District Judge Waverly Crenshaw denied RealPage's bid to dismiss the consolidated lawsuits.[21]

Bans

In July 2024, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously approved an ordinance banning landlords from using software or algorithms, such as those offered by RealPage and Yardi, to set rents or manage occupancy within the city; a final vote on the ordinance is scheduled for September 3.[22]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Rodriguez . James . 2024-04-10 . Landlords are using a popular software tool to jack up your rent . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240608095100/https://www.businessinsider.com/apartment-rent-increases-landlords-antitrust-lawsuits-real-estate-software-realpage-2024-4 . 2024-06-08 . 2024-08-03 . . en-US.
  2. Web site: Management Team . RealPage.com . 1 February 2024 .
  3. Rent Roll, Inc. and RealPage Communications, Inc. Merge . Three years later, they released their first on-demand property management product and since then, expanded the on-demand software solutions to include a number of value-added services from property management to renter's insurance and more. . Business Wire . Thefreelibrary.com . 11 December 1998 . February 24, 2016 . March 3, 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160303134110/http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Rent+Roll,+Inc.+and+RealPage+Communications,+Inc.+Merge.-a053386747 . live .
  4. Web site: RealPage continues expanding, agrees to buy On-Site for $250 million - Acquiring leasing and marketing platform for rental properties . Ben . Lane . housingwire.com . August 2, 2017 . June 28, 2018 . June 28, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180628183426/https://www.housingwire.com/articles/39395-realpage-continues-expansion-with-300-million-acquisition-of-lease-rent-options . live .
  5. Web site: BRIEF-Realpage To Acquire Clickpay For $218.5 Mln . . April 20, 2018 . June 28, 2018 . June 28, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180628184745/https://www.reuters.com/article/brief-realpage-to-acquire-clickpay-for-2/brief-realpage-to-acquire-clickpay-for-218-5-mln-idUSASC09WO4 . live .
  6. Web site: RealPage makes another purchase – and this time it's a Texas technology firm . Dallas Business Journal . Brian . Womack . en-US . July 29, 2019 . 1 February 2024 . https://archive.today/20240201133748/https://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/news/2019/07/29/realpage-makes-another-purchase-and-this-time-it-s.html . live .
  7. Web site: RealPage to Acquire Buildium . realpage.com . en-US . July 7, 2020 . July 10, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200710194808/https://www.realpage.com/news/realpage-acquire-buildium/ . live .
  8. Business Wire . RealPage to Acquire Modern Message . finance.yahoo.com . en-US . February 6, 2020 . February 6, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200206232653/https://finance.yahoo.com/news/realpage-acquire-modern-message-220900126.html . dead .
  9. Web site: Frederic . Lardinois . RealPage acquires real estate IoT startup Stratis . techcrunch.com . August 31, 2020 . en-US . September 3, 2020 . September 4, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200904012947/https://techcrunch.com/2020/08/31/realpage-acquires-real-estate-iot-startup-stratis/ . live .
  10. News: Lombardo . Miriam . Gottfried . Cara . December 21, 2020 . Thoma Bravo Agrees to Buy RealPage for $9.6 Billion. en-US. Wall Street Journal. December 22, 2020. 0099-9660. December 21, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201221233018/https://www.wsj.com/articles/thoma-bravo-agrees-to-buy-realpage-for-9-6-billion-11608526860. live.
  11. Thoma Bravo Completes Acquisition of RealPage . April 22, 2021 . . April 23, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210423162240/https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210422005682/en/Thoma-Bravo-Completes-Acquisition-of-RealPage . live .
  12. RealPage® Acquires WhiteSky Communications . January 4, 2021 . January 4, 2021 . en-US . . January 4, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210104190417/https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210104005190/en/RealPage%C2%AE-Acquires-WhiteSky-Communications/ . live .
  13. RealPage Has Been Accused of Price-Fixing Rents. Now It’s on the Offensive . Hoover . Amanda . . 17 July 2024 . 11 August 2024 .
  14. We're Entering an AI Price-Fixing Dystopia . Karma . Rogé . . 10 August 2024 . 11 August 2024 .
  15. Web site: Vogell . Heather . Coryne . Haru . Little . Ryan . October 15, 2022 . Rent Going Up? One Company's Algorithm Could Be Why. . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20221015090448/https://www.propublica.org/article/yieldstar-rent-increase-realpage-rent . October 15, 2022 . October 15, 2022 . . en-US.
  16. Web site: Roth . Emma . November 26, 2022 . The DOJ is reportedly investigating rent-setting software company RealPage . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20221126175958/https://www.theverge.com/2022/11/26/23479034/doj-investigating-rent-setting-software-company-realpage . November 26, 2022 . November 26, 2022 . The Verge.
  17. News: Scarcella . Mike . 2023-11-02 . DC sues tech company RealPage, landlords over rental prices . live . http://web.archive.org/web/20231103102559/https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/dc-sues-tech-company-realpage-landlords-over-rental-prices-2023-11-01/ . 2023-11-03 . 2024-05-23 . Reuters.
  18. News: Scarcella . Mike . 2023-04-10 . RealPage antitrust lawsuits over rent prices consolidated in Tennessee . 2024-05-23 . Reuters.
  19. News: Scarcella . Mike . 2023-11-16 . Renters suing RealPage get US backing in pricing lawsuits . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20231118174532/https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/renters-suing-realpage-get-us-backing-pricing-lawsuits-2023-11-16/ . 2023-11-18 . 2024-05-22 . Reuters.
  20. Web site: Vogell . Heather . 2023-11-16 . DOJ Backs Tenants in Case Alleging Price-Fixing by Big Landlords and a Real Estate Tech Company . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20231116212843/https://www.propublica.org/article/doj-backs-tenants-price-fixing-case-big-landlords-real-estate-tech . 2023-11-16 . 2024-05-23 . . en.
  21. News: Scarcella . Mike . 2023-12-29 . RealPage must face renters' price-fixing lawsuit over multifamily housing . 2024-05-23 . Reuters.
  22. Web site: Brodkin . Jon . 2024-08-01 . San Francisco to ban software that “enables price collusion” by landlords . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240801190919/https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/08/san-francisco-to-ban-software-that-enables-price-collusion-by-landlords/ . 2024-08-01 . 2024-08-03 . . en-us.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "RealPage".

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