As if there weren’t already sufficient forces driving unaffordably excessive rental charges, which have jumped by 30 % during the last 4 years, Standard Data stories that the Division of Justice is investigating one other potential trigger: a “huge prison conspiracy amongst giant landlords” to “artificially enhance rents by collusion.”
In line with reporter Judd Legum, the FBI performed a raid on a significant company landlord based mostly in Atlanta known as Cortland Administration, which “seems to be a part of a Division of Justice prison investigation, first reported by Politico in March. “The investigation facilities round the usage of RealPage, superior property administration software program utilized by many company landlords,” which a lawsuit file by the State of Arizona in February claims places important strain on landlords — who’re presupposed to be rivals — to outsource pricing authority and undertake RealPage’s costs relatively than competing with each other. “The system has resulted in giant hire will increase that had been beforehand unthinkable, in response to RealPage’s personal executives,” Legum stories.
So why is the FBI specializing in Cortland Administration in Atlanta? The company hasn’t mentioned, however a class-action lawsuits revealed “landlords utilizing RealPage account for over 53% of the multifamily rental market within the Atlanta Submarket” and the usage of RealPage in Atlanta has coincided with a 56 % rental enhance since 2016, Legum stories. RealPage additionally controls giant market shares in Baltimore, Charlotte, Houston, and Miami.
