Company that makes rent-setting software for landlords sued for collusion

RealPage worked with some of the nation’s largest landlords to raise rents, says lawsuit.

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[prestonf]

This one is interesting. I did a business exercise a few years ago where we had to figure out if gas stations posting their prices on the signs should count as collusion since their competitors can look and then adjust prices, and if that helps them raise prices and unofficially fix them as a group. This software reminds me of the same thing in that it's just a shortcut to looking at a bunch of price sheets.

I don't think it's so similar. In the gas station situation, the buyer and the seller have access to the same information, not in the apartment renting situation.

The key difference is the private data. "The software considers actual rents paid to those rivals—not just what they are advertising, the company told ProPublica."