Attorney General Kris Mayes has initiated a lawsuit against software firm RealPage, Inc. and nine major apartment landlords in Arizona. The lawsuit accuses them of collaborating to increase rents in the Phoenix and Tucson metro areas. The suit suggests this collaboration has contributed to Arizona’s housing affordability issues, with rents in Phoenix and Tucson increasing by at least 30% in the past two years.
The lawsuit alleges that RealPage’s revenue management software collects sensitive data on pricing and occupancy from competitors in the apartment lease market. It is then purported to advise the competitors on which units to rent and at what price. The landlords are accused of colluding with RealPage to increase rents and hiding this collaboration from the public.
The lawsuit also suggests that the defendant landlords provided sensitive, non-public leasing data to RealPage, which is not typical competitive behavior. It accuses RealPage of using its revenue management algorithm to set prices for all participants. The lawsuit alleges that this collaboration between RealPage and the landlords violates Arizona’s antitrust and consumer fraud laws.