Attorney General Matthew Platkin is the latest to narrow in on the apartment data giant, alleging it operated as a ‘cartel’ along with some of the nation’s largest property management firms.
Bigger. Better. Bolder. Inman Connect is heading to San Diego. Join thousands of real estate pros, connect with the Inman Community and gain insights from hundreds of leading minds shaping the industry. If you’re ready to grow your business and invest in yourself, this is where you need to be. Go BIG in San Diego!
The apartment data firm RealPage is facing yet another legal challenge over its rent-setting technology. This time, New Jersey has the firm in its crosshairs.
New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against Texas-based RealPage and 12 property management and development firms, including some of the nation’s largest. The suit alleges RealPage colluded with the firms to unfairly raise rent prices, violating state and federal antitrust laws as well as consumer protection laws.
TAKE THE INMAN INTEL SURVEY FOR APRIL
“The defendants in this case unlawfully lined their pockets at the expense of New Jersey renters who struggled to pay the increasingly unlivable price levels imposed by this cartel,” Platkin said in a statement. “Today we’re holding them accountable for unlawful conduct that fueled the state’s affordable housing crisis and deprived New Jerseyans of their fundamental right to shelter.”
The complaint largely makes similar allegations against RealPage and the property management firms that have been made by a handful of other lawsuits filed in other states.
Platkin’s lawsuit takes aim at price-setting algorithms RealPage created and licensed to its clients, who in the past agreed to share data and receive guidance on rent increases to optimize occupancy of their buildings.
“Stated simply, these products employ statistical models that use data—including proprietary, non-public data—to estimate supply and demand for multifamily housing that is specific to particular geographic areas and unit types, and then generate a price to charge for renting those units that maximizes the landlord’s revenue,” Platkin’s office said in a statement.
“The complaint asserts the RealPage software is anticompetitive by design because it restricts meaningful price reductions and facilitates collective action to push rents higher,” it continued.
Among the companies listed as defendants are three of the largest property management firms in the country, along with large landlord companies in New Jersey.
- Morgan Properties Management Company
- AvalonBay Communities
- Kamson Corp
- LeFrak Estates
- Realty Operations Group
- Greystar Management Services
- Aion Management
- Cammeby’s Management
- Veris Residential
- Russo Property Management
- Bozzuto Management Company
Greystar manages 946,742 units as of 2025, according to the National Multifamily Housing Council. Bozzuto manages 121,232 units, and AvalonBay manages 86,753 units.
The other defendants aren’t within the top 50 among property managers in the U.S., according to the NMHC.
More cases pending
RealPage announced in December that it received word the U.S. Department of Justice had ended a criminal investigation into multifamily rental pricing — though other civil cases involving the company are still ongoing.
The company is facing lawsuits in Washington D.C., as well as with a handful of states that filed a lawsuit against the company.
Each of the suits takes aim at the company’s rent-pricing algorithms and also names large landlords as defendants.
RealPage and other defendants have filed motions to dismiss the U.S. vs. RealPage case this month. The judge in that case has yet to rule on the motion.
RealPage also filed a lawsuit of its own earlier this month, challenging Berkeley, California’s ban on rent-setting algorithms.
RealPage responds
In response to the lawsuit, RealPage said that it was “disappointed” by Platkin’s lawsuit, which a spokeswoman for the company said was “recycling the inaccuracies of predecessor cases to blame RealPage for New Jersey’s housing affordability challenges.”
“Today’s action against RealPage was a surprise, as there were no efforts by them to engage with RealPage prior to filing the lawsuit, further underscoring the problem with this process and the politics in play,” RealPage spokeswoman Jennifer Bowcock told Inman in a statement.
Throughout numerous lawsuits and class action complaints across the country, RealPage has maintained that its software was designed to be legally compliant.
“RealPage’s revenue management software helps housing providers comply with Fair Housing laws, rent control laws and state of emergency price gouging laws, and does not use any personal or demographic data to generate rent price recommendations,” Bowcock said. “New Jersey residents deserve real solutions to increase access to affordable housing.”
She called on the state to focus on policy reforms that would increase housing supply to drive down prices.
Email Taylor Anderson
