Posted on 12/08/2022 7:54:16 AM PST by FryingPan101
RealPage, Inc., a real estate software and data analytics company, is facing class action litigation and a federal investigation over whether it is facilitating a data-driven rental property cartel with landlords and property managers, driving up the prices renters pay each month.
(Excerpt) Read more at blog.moginrubin.com ...
“In October 2022, ProPublica reported that landlords used Realpage’s cartel asset optimization algorithm Yieldstar to increase rents exponentially throughout the United States. Overwhelmingly, approximately 90% of property managers/landlords obey price increases suggestions by Yieldstar. Realpage’s policy strongly discourages negotiating rent prices with tenants, thus empathy with tenants are most sacrificed as a result.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RealPage
It reminds me of a dental trade publication.
This seems kinda like looking through the the classifieds to get an idea of market price. You can also ask sec 8 what they pay.
Interesting find, Brian. “RealPage’s policy strongly discourages negotiating rent prices with tenants, thus empathy with tenants are most sacrificed as a result.”
This would explain why move-in and new lease-renewals incentives have all but disappeared in the property rental business. Asset Management companies would prefer leaving properties unoccupied rather than negotiate price. It’s a matter of interest to me because I read about people on fixed incomes being forced to leave their dwellings due to increases in payments. The asset management companies also have an alliance with credit bureaus as they promise to help build credit profiles for a monthly price.
A can of worms.
Going up each month? So these people don’t have leases?
I’ve been keeping up with house rentals in the local Charlotte area. Looking at houses comparable to ours, should we sell and move, many of these houses are in the $2400-2600 range. You can usually check the history on Zillow and see that these same homes were renting for $1800-2000 just last year or the year before. It’s as if a magic wand waved over these houses and made all of them jump in price overnight.
They all also have monthly fees for pets, “smart home”, hvac filter exchange, pool (if any)...not to mention high application fees.
Of course, a lot of these houses are just sitting unrented. Any rent reductions happen in $25-50 increments.
One massive apartment complex here in El Paso was sued by the Feds recently because they refused to honor a clause for military personnel regarding early release from a lease due to military orders. This is a huge problem for military families waiting for quarters on post too.
The rental increases also target college communities as well. It may all seem insignificant to a person with secure living circumstances but there are moments of panic when your rent goes up $85 a month in two consecutive years. The stories are heartbreaking. Like being self-evicted because you don’t qualify suddenly.
The whole market tends to be a scam when on the industrial level. And these management companies are crime racket that drives up the price even more.
How is it illegal or unethical if rent goes up when you seek to renew the lease which has fully run its course?
Certainly not the federal government’s delegated job to regulate intrastate commerce or things which are not interstate commerce even though they affect it (no delegated power to regulate things which merely affect interstate commerce).
Unless there is, as you point out, a clause in the lease that is not being honored the renter is at the mercy of circumstances.
As one local fellow who has been pushing home ownership over renting has been saying in commercials for decades now: well bless their hearts.
When trying to rent from one of those big complexes it’s best to check numerous times for the rental price. The software varies it almost day to day.
These days you have to be prepared to move after every lease because the price will go up if you stay in place.
I guess we’ll find out if it’s “illegal” or “”unethical” as this plays out. I suspect this is another Democrat squeeze on another segment of big business. I have no creds in legal or otherwise so I don’t pretend to know. All I do know is if you lease a car for 3 years, the payment is the same for 3 years. If you rent a car for a week, it’s the same price for each day. If you rent a vacation home, the rent doesn’t escalate each week. You can sign a 3 or 5 year lease on retail space without penalty. But to rent an apartment nowadays, you are restricted to one year leases. During that lease, you must pay your own gas, electric, trash pick-up, cable, pest-control, etc. Ten months into that 1 yr lease, you are presented with a time-limited offer to sign a new one year lease now at a new higher rate within a week or pay an even higher rent when the lease ends if you want to stay.
I sold our home after my husband passed away. I went the apartment route temporarily. I didn’t know a lot. I learned fast. Maybe not corrupt in the usual sense, but the industry is not reactive to people…only to asset management. They would rather have a vacant apartment or empty retail space than negotiate a transition to a new lease.
I know this is long-winded. I apologize. When this began with RealPage, I didn’t think it would amount to much. That said, the news seems more and more like a squeeze every day. Considering who is squeezing, it could be interesting theater.
The higher rate is for the new lease, not the time left on the current lease, right?
That’s legitimate.
You know what I see when I see all these apartments going up in my area? I see residences for a boatload of suckers. Many of which are from States their progressive politics already screwed up.
Right.
It is legitimate.
They can do whatever they want.
They are not oppressive nor discriminatory.
The point is, they are greedy and excessive. The consumer
or the renter is an after-thought if that even.
No deals.
When, to borrow a line from the comedian, they can get another just like you ... and you aren’t even family like in the skit ... they are free to think about their investors, or their own family if it’s a privately held rental.
Rental: how you end up with an empty bag at the end of the day.
In an apartment building with multiple units, the owner could have a move-out several times a year.
Yes. But if they have leases those will not usually be the same people. Different people from different units.
But if someone is doing month to month....
Thank you for the warning. I think your detailed explanation will help many of the downsizers reading here.
I believe they were saying “each month” with regard to the owner’s pricing scheme, not the individual renter under a lease.
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