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Scandal-Plagued Rent-Setting Software Execs Presented as Neutral Experts

Amid an ongoing Department of Justice inquiry, the Texas-based real
estate tech company RealPage is prized for its analysis on mainstream
media.

Debates over housing in the United States often play out as overheated
ideological squabbles, with actual housing policy far in the background.
One side professes genuine concern over displacement and gentrification,
which some YIMBY (Yes In My Back Yard) groups cynically frame as
misguided. On the other hand, the YIMBY instinct is correct: More
housing must be built. Take a few steps back, and these debates
eventually wade into questions about poverty, affordability, and tenant
rights. The answers to these questions aren't always clean. But what
if there was one aspect that everyone could universally acknowledge as
bad?

Meet RealPage, a private equity-owned
<[link removed]"bragged
about [YieldStar's] success" in helping property managers "raise rents
to double digits within a single month."

[link removed]"All of that new product is giving renters a lot more
options-it's also forcing property managers to compete with each
other." The subtext of the comments is that the housing crisis is one of
too much demand and too little supply. Yet a piece of RealPage's
playbook involves keeping units empty at higher prices rather than
bringing prices down and filling them with tenants, according to a
lawsuit
<[link removed]"spend smarter, lease faster, and price right."

At time of writing, RealPage did not respond to the

**Prospect**'s request for comment.

Even before the lawsuits, the letter notes how in 2018, RealPage was
charged a $3 million fine by the Federal Trade Commission for violating
the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The FTC's 2018 announcement described
<[link removed]"failing to take reasonable steps to ensure the accuracy of
tenant screening information provided to its clients." That translated
to prospective tenants being falsely accused of having criminal records
because of glitches in RealPage's background-screening software.

The housing issues that media outlets consider RealPage as qualified
experts to weigh in on include "rent prices, rent inflation, the current
decline in rent market growth, housing construction, issues around
multifamily housing construction, and rent control." The Revolving Door
Project and the others are taking the stance that RealPage's practices
and its ongoing investigation by the Justice Department should be
acknowledged when the company's representatives weigh in on housing
issues across the media.

Media outlets are free to publish what they wish, and use anyone they
see fit to provide expert analysis. But still, it's strange how
neutral input from RealPage is so consistently sought, despite the
company's role in the very housing issues it comments on. "Citing
RealPage," as the housing advocates put it, "without disclosing that the
company is under federal investigation ignores its numerous
transgressions against tenants."

~ JAROD FACUNDO, WRITING FELLOW

Follow Jarod Facundo on Twitter <[link removed]