Attorney General Jeff Jackson Sues Six Landlords for Illegally Raising North Carolinians’ Rents

“North Carolinians are struggling to afford their rent as it is – we won’t stand for landlords and real estate companies making the problem worse to line their own pockets,” said Attorney General Jeff Jackson. “I’m suing these landlords to make sure they play by the rules so North Carolinians can get fair prices for rent.”

 

Attorney General Jackson is suing these landlords as part of his ongoing bipartisan case against the software company RealPage. He is suing RealPage for allegedly exploiting landlords’ competitively sensitive information to create a pricing algorithm in violation of antitrust laws and enriching themselves at the expense of renters, who end up paying inflated prices. Attorney General Jackson’s case alleges that these landlords communicated with RealPage and each other to share non-public information about rent prices, occupancy, strategies for setting rents, and discounts. The sharing of this non-public competitively sensitive information allegedly allowed landlords using RealPage’s products to set higher prices for rent than competitive market forces would have set.

 

Landlords are allegedly using RealPage’s algorithm to set rents for approximately a third of one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments in the Raleigh, Durham/Chapel Hill, and Charlotte metro areas. The alleged illegal conduct harms North Carolinians who are struggling to pay rent and stay in their homes as rental prices increase, and they harm landlords who are trying to play fairly and follow the rules.

 

Attorney General Jackson is filing today’s lawsuit alongside the U.S. Department of Justice and the Attorneys General of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oregon, Tennessee, and Washington.

 

Image: WNCTimes