Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes on Wednesday announced a lawsuit against RealPage, Inc. and residential landlords operating in the state for illegally hiking rental prices.
The lawsuit alleges that Texas-based software company RealPage, which calls itself "revenue management" to its clients, illegally conspired with nine prominent landlords in the state to raise rental prices to "astronomical" levels in Arizona's two largest metro areas.
Specifically, Mayes alleged that rental prices in Phoenix increased by 76% since 2016, while prices in Tucson rose by 30% during the same period.
"The conspiracy allegedly engaged in by RealPage and these landlords has harmed Arizonans and directly contributed to Arizona's affordable housing crisis," Attorney General Mayes said in the lawsuit.
"In the last two years, residential rents in Phoenix and Tucson have risen by at least 30% in large part because of this conspiracy that stifled fair competition and essentially established a rental monopoly in our state's two largest metro areas. RealPage and its co-defendants must be held accountable for their role in the astronomical rent increases forced on Arizonans," she continued.
Additionally, Mayes' lawsuit alleged that RealPage's revenue management software worked by compiling competitive sensitive data on pricing and occupancy from competitors in the market and then used that information to conduct a price-fixing conspiracy.
The software was also alleged to have provided training to landlords and instructed them not to mention RealPage or its pricing algorithms when explaining price hikes to tenants. Instead, landlords were told to say that the apartment units were "individual" and "concessions" were built into the price.
State officials said RealPage's pricing methods violated the Arizona Uniform State Antitrust Act and the Arizona Consumer Fraud Act.
Who Are Named in the Suit?
In addition to RealPage, the lawsuit also named Apartment Management Consultants LLC (AMC), Avenue5 Residential, BH Properties, Camden Property Trust, Crow Holdings, Greystar, HSL Properties, RPM Living, Trammell Crow Residential, and Weidner Apartment Homes.
Where Else Is RealPage Facing a Lawsuit?
Apart from Arizona, RealPage is also named in lawsuits in other states, including 21 federal cases in Nashville, Tennessee, and another in Washington, D.C. RealPage has denied the allegations in both cases.
