Feds sue real estate software firm for allegedly pricing out renters

CHARLOTTE — Charlotte’s skyline is full of apartment buildings, but the government says tenants should be asking if they are paying too much rent.

“People are suffering in the community. It’s hard to stay in place for people if the rent keeps going up,” said Jessica Moreno, a tenant organizer with Action NC.

The Department of Justice announced Friday that it filed a civil antitrust lawsuit against Realpage, a rental software company out of Texas.

“If these corporate landlords can get away with it, they are going to do it,” said Moreno.

RealPage groups landlords together so that instead of competing for tenants, they can artificially boost prices, the government said

“We’ve seen that trend for many years,” said Moreno.

RealPage released a response: “This has perpetuated an inaccurate and distorted narrative about RealPage.”

The company said rising rent costs are due to persistent undersupply of rental housing units and inflationary pressures which affect costs to build, insure, and manage properties.

However, some renters disagree.

“I think it’s pretty unfair considering some of us shop around trying to find the best price,” said Alyssa Pfitcher, a renter.

“If there is just one company that’s running everything that can jack up prices on us, they’re not going to suffer because we all need an apartment to live in,” said Liam Hurley, a renter. “I think it’s unfair.”

Moreno said that it’s not enough and that new laws are needed, despite the lawsuit.

“Well, I think business practices that corporate landlords practice on people is anti-human. Being homeless actually kills people,” Moreno said.

The software is one of the reasons that some tenants have been priced out, Moreno said. One way to fight back is to form a tenant’s union with other renters.

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