DOJ’s RealPage Settlement Doesn’t Achieve The Corporate Crackdown Tenants Deserve
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Andrea Beaty, beaty@therevolvingdoorproject.org
The Department of Justice yesterday announced a settlement for its lawsuit against RealPage, which allegedly created software which enabled landlords to collude to raise rents via algorithmic pricing schemes. In response to the Department of Justice’s announcement, Revolving Door Project Assistant Director Andrea Beaty said:
“The DOJ’s lawsuit against RealPage was brought by the trustbusters of the Biden administration, who sought to ‘end their practice of putting profits over people and make housing more affordable for millions of people across the country.’ Now Trump’s appointees have negotiated a settlement which requires restrictions on RealPage’s use of nonpublic rental data and current lease information, but appears to stop short of financial penalty or admission of wrongdoing.”
“This settlement is far from the consequences that RealPage’s alleged rental price fixing called for.”
In the 2024 presidential election, the cost of housing was consistently ranked a top issue for swing state voters and polling indicated voters wanted to see more of the Biden-Harris crackdown on RealPage. Yet an extremely effective Harris ad promising the administration would go after landlords and price gouging had “virtually never been aired.” Instead of capitalizing on the anti-rent gouging message, the Harris campaign dialed back on populist positions.
Beaty continued:
“This settlement further underscores the vast gulf between Americans’ appetite for holding price gouging corporations accountable and the Trump administration’s pay-to-play approach to justice. Price gouging was a policy area in which the Biden administration made significant strides but Vice President Harris opted not to lean into. With affordability still top-of-mind to voters, that contrast has only gotten more important. Trump’s critics should be emphasizing how his administration is not only cracking down on political opponents, but looking away as rapacious elites allegedly immiserate hardworking Americans.”
###