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Alleged rent-raising scheme nets suit

NJ officials target NJ landlords

By: Maddie McGay
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey

..... New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Plakin field a lawsuit Wednesday [04/23/2025] against property management software company RealPage and 10 of the state's largest landlords, accusing the group of "conspiring" to drive up residential rent prices in violation of federal and state antitrust laws and New Jersey consumer fraud laws.
..... The complaint, which was filed in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, says the defendants used RealPage's algorithmic revenue management system to inflate rent prices for apartments in multifamily properties.
..... Platkin said the defendants also exchanged sensitive, non-public information on things like occupancy rates, lessing activity, concessions and pricing strategies in order to align their prices and avoid competition.
..... The complaint says these acts violate the federal Sherman Act, the New Jersey antitrust Act and the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act.
..... "This lawsuit is about putting a stop to corporate greed at tits worst," said Jeremy Hollander, acting director of the Division of Consumer Affairs. "the housing market in New Jersey is already stacked in favor of landlords, but the defendants wanted more."
..... This legal action comes after Washington, D. C.-based watchdog group Accountable.us released a report on "housing profiteering" and sent a letter to Platkin urging him to investigate AvalonBay communities, one of the defendant landlords named in the lawsuit, for raising rent prices while using the RealPage antilogarithm.
...... It follows several similar lawsuits filed against the Texas-based company, including one this month [04/2025] from officials in Washington and one last year [2024] from the U.S. Department of Justice, in conjunction with eight states.
..... Jennifer Bowcock, vice president of communication and creative at RealPage, said the company's revenue management software is designed to be legally compliant, helps housing providers comply with housing and price gouging laws, and does not use personal or demographic data to generate rent price recommendations.
..... "Rentpage is disappointed that New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin is recycling the inaccuracies of predecessor cases to blame RealPage for New Jersey's housing comfortability challenges," she said Wednesday. [04/23/2025] "Today's [04/23/2025] 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."
..... The other defendants named in the lawsuit did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
..... The lawsuit is seeking several remedies that include an injunction to stop the defendants form engaging in anti-competitive and consumer fraud practices, the appointment of a corporate monitor to ensure the defendants do not engage in these practices, the recouping of illegal profit, and civil penalties, among others.
..... "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. "Today [04/23/2025] holding them accountable for unlawful conduct that fueled the state's affordable housing crisis and deprive New Jerseyans of their fundamental right to shelter."

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