Hi Reader,

Injustice, in one form or another, is the subject of nearly every ProPublica investigation.

Here’s why: We’re steadfast in our mission to use the power of journalism to expose corruption and abuses of power. And our reporting can make a real difference: policies get reversed or new ones get enacted, people at the top resign, debts are erased, innocent people are freed and so much more.

One example is our investigation into rent-setting software sold by Texas-based company RealPage. Used by landlords all over the country, RealPage’s proprietary algorithm helps them to set prices for apartments and “beat the market.” One of the algorithm’s developers even told ProPublica that, compared to a computer, leasing agents have “too much empathy.” As rents continue to soar, critics are concerned that the software’s design and growing reach is allowing landlords to indirectly coordinate their prices and undermine market competition. Our investigation found that in one neighborhood in Seattle, 70% of apartments were overseen by just 10 property managers, every single one of whom used pricing software sold by RealPage.

After our story was published, the Department of Justice opened an investigation into RealPage, a group of senators wrote to the DOJ asking the agency to take action after RealPage’s “alarming” responses to the lawmakers’ questions and more than two dozen federal lawsuits were filed by renters alleging antitrust violations by the company and more than 40 landlords in multiple states (the lawsuits were later consolidated in federal court in Nashville, Tennessee).

And just last month, the Department of Justice threw its weight behind the plaintiffs in the massive antitrust lawsuit. In their filing, federal prosecutors wrote, “Algorithms are the new frontier and, given the amount of information an algorithm can access and digest, this new frontier poses an even greater anticompetitive threat than the last.” The DOJ filing comes after the District of Columbia’s attorney general announced that his office was also suing RealPage and 14 of the biggest landlords in the city “for colluding to illegally raise rents for tens of thousands of DC residents.” Lawyers for RealPage deny the allegations.

ProPublica readers like you donate the money that powers reporting like this. Our mission grows more important by the day, and with your help, we can dig deeper and, together, spur even more impact. Donate today and support journalism that holds the powerful accountable.

Thanks so much,

Jill Shepherd
Proud ProPublican