Dear Reader,
Two years ago, ProPublica reporter Heather Vogell set out to understand America’s soaring rents. What she found reshaped the national conversation on affordable housing.
In a series of investigations, she revealed that rents in cities across the country weren’t simply the product of individual landlords but were often influenced by an algorithm built by RealPage, a Texas-based software maker. The tool encouraged landlords to raise rents together in ways legal experts said resembled price-fixing.
Her reporting showed how private equity-backed landlords, including Greystar — now the largest apartment manager in the U.S. with nearly 950,000 units nationwide — were using this software to push rents higher.
The impact was immediate. Senators introduced legislation to curb algorithmic “price-fixing.” Tenants filed dozens of federal lawsuits. Cities from San Francisco to Minneapolis moved to restrict rent-setting software. And the Department of Justice filed an antitrust complaint against RealPage and sued six major landlords — including Greystar — alleging they coordinated to raise rents.
This summer, Greystar agreed to stop using “anti-competitive” software as part of a DOJ settlement, later approved by a judge. In November, the DOJ reached a settlement with RealPage as well. Under the agreement, RealPage will stop conducting market surveys to gather nonpublic, “competitively sensitive” data, and it agreed not to discuss pricing strategies or trends based on nonpublic data at meetings it holds for property managers. The company also must remove or redesign software features that restrict rent decreases or align pricing among competitors. A court-appointed monitor will ensure compliance with the settlement, if a judge approves the settlement. The company also agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in their lawsuit against property managers that have used its software.
Greystar and RealPage did not admit wrongdoing as part of their settlements. Greystar said that it believes its use of RealPage’s software “complies with all applicable laws.” RealPage said that its settlement “provides greater certainty for housing providers and technology innovators that revenue management software can be operated confidently and in compliance with the views of federal antitrust enforcers.”
Corporate accountability — the kind that affects the bottom line for millions of renters — happened here because readers like you choose to support this work. Backed by more than 80,000 donors, we’re able to take on the biggest players and stay on the story for as long as it takes. Investigations like these aren’t quick hits — they take months, sometimes years, of digging, verifying and holding the powerful to account. This series is proof that persistence works, and your gift today is what makes that persistence possible.
As the year comes to a close, your generosity means so much to us. A gift of any amount helps us keep pursuing ambitious investigations, following them wherever they lead and staying on them until the job is done. If you’re able, please stand with us today.
Thanks so much,
Jill Shepherd
Proud ProPublican
