The property management software used by many corporate landlords, RealPage, is deploying AI to artificially inflate rental prices in the United States by more than $3.6 billion annually, according to a new report by the White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA).
Organizations who collaborate to control access to assets and fix prices are known as "cartels." The AI service gave property owners easy entree into functioning as a cartel. Who knew the exploitative investment practices of property ownership could get even worse with so much convenience?!
When venture capital started buying up masses of foreclosed houses and apartment buildings during the Great Recession, the large-scale gouging of renters by Wall Street became an inevitability.
I wonder how much the $100/month 'AI rent surcharge' paid by renters in San Diego County have contributed to the shift from reliably Red to moderately Blue in the last few years.
Yes, not just San Diego. Housing costs are a problem across the country. While states were ending covid relief early to add the $$ to reserves & justifying tax cuts, rents were often increasing in much bigger leaps than $100/mo. Everyone was focused on families priced out of homeownership - not who was buying up those homes or renters in apartment buildings. Add to that development where low cost housing is razed.
The answer to the question of when is enough enough used to be just a little bit more. Now unbridled greed is spinning out of control. It seems that with enough money you can bye a US election and manipulate world order. It seems that if you make billions you can do whatever you want. A question is , just how far can that go? How much can the 90% take ? The billionaires are betting that there is no end in sight . There will always be a little bit more money and power to be had.
It's the machine, it did it, I can't help it, nothing to be done.
This excuse - the machine controls it, I can't change what the machine does - is such bullshit.
The problem inside this story and with all stories like this nowadays is that money is power. A lot of money is control. Blaming the machine is a brilliant move. Now get out of the way.
While people who care about other people are in office, we have alert action protecting against this arbitrary AI induced money making scheme for those in the greedy corporate world. "Hallelujah" to O'Rourke in Philadelphia, and hopefully successful legal action coming in San Jose and New Jersey. Hurry before Trump's promise to help the poor takes root!
The collusion, if there is any, is being performed by landlords; they should be the focus here, not a software vendor. Banning a tool (i.e., the RealPage product) is the tail wagging the dog.
That sounds like a variation on "Guns don't kill people. People kill people." But as guns greatly enhance the killing power of people, so this software greatly enhances the exploitative, monopolizing power of landlords. So, yes, it is an issue.
Modern day usury. May these greedy bastards face the same penalty as was meted out in the Old Testament: death. Meanwhile, young people can't begin to put aside money for a down payment on a home of their own, because every penny they would save is going into the pockets of these SOB's.
And where will this all end up in the 🤡 DOJ? Keep the spotlight on this Judd. Excellent reporting. I’m in Atlanta and this has been a problem for many years. I’m assuming we were the first test market.
I remember apartment shopping with my daughter and wondering why they would say to us when leaving…”the prices are only good for today, they go up and down daily? Just like the stock market.” It all makes sense now.
It's encouraging that some areas are addressing this problem, but I believe [know] there should be national law-- oh wait, we have anti-trust laws... why aren't we using them?
While it is easy to hop on the bandwagon of “Landlords are Evil” the truth is far different. Tenants have more rights than landlords, ask any landlord how much time, often months or years, and money it costs to evict a tenant for non-payment of rent. Ask any landlord how many tenants took advantage of pandemic laws that prohibited evictions but allowed tenants to stop paying rent. Ask a landlord who tries to provide a safe, comfortable residential environment what it feels like when a tenant skips out in the middle of a weekend and damages the property. On the other side banks and interest rates and shortages of qualified maintenance and repair personnel. If one does not like the value for rent, move. Don’t sign a lease, stop paying rent and complain that life is too hard.
It's not that there are negative sides of being a landlord, nobody would argue that. It's just that listing said negative sides does very little. What does it accomplish in fact? I wonder. What are we suppose to do? Empathize with landlords for their oh difficult life? List the negative sides of being a renter? And what after all that? Where are we left?
I encourage you to reflect on what you were trying to do by listing landlord's difficulties (which are necessarily marginal otherwise being a landlord wouldn't be lucrative). In the end, this is a power relationship with the landlord on top and the renter at the bottom. That there are edge cases where landlords are left with the short end of the stick does not change that fact. Don't forget that landlords own the property, where the money is.
I'm not excusing bad tenant behavior, I'm only questioning the validity of bringing it up in this context.
This is very similar to politicians bringing up mom and pop shops when talking about the economical validity of raising taxes on (the richest) businesses. One has to question their intentions there as I question yours here.
This argument is a non sequitur: arbitrary rent raises[ RealPage’s 'rates are what they are.'] have nothing to do with the average renter just living an average life.
Organizations who collaborate to control access to assets and fix prices are known as "cartels." The AI service gave property owners easy entree into functioning as a cartel. Who knew the exploitative investment practices of property ownership could get even worse with so much convenience?!
When venture capital started buying up masses of foreclosed houses and apartment buildings during the Great Recession, the large-scale gouging of renters by Wall Street became an inevitability.
I wonder how much the $100/month 'AI rent surcharge' paid by renters in San Diego County have contributed to the shift from reliably Red to moderately Blue in the last few years.
Yes, not just San Diego. Housing costs are a problem across the country. While states were ending covid relief early to add the $$ to reserves & justifying tax cuts, rents were often increasing in much bigger leaps than $100/mo. Everyone was focused on families priced out of homeownership - not who was buying up those homes or renters in apartment buildings. Add to that development where low cost housing is razed.
Late-stage capitalism. When is enough enough?
The answer to the question of when is enough enough used to be just a little bit more. Now unbridled greed is spinning out of control. It seems that with enough money you can bye a US election and manipulate world order. It seems that if you make billions you can do whatever you want. A question is , just how far can that go? How much can the 90% take ? The billionaires are betting that there is no end in sight . There will always be a little bit more money and power to be had.
The answer, quite simply, is "Never".
BTW so-called AI is not to fault for inhuman greed.
The Devil's Dictionary defined "enough" as sufficient until more is available.
And Trump, who is fully under the command of the “Tech Bros," is about to be crowned “King” in just a couple of weeks. What can possibly go wrong?
Yeah, when you have to create a whole propaganda website trying to argue allegations about you and your customers are false, it's a bad sign.
I can’t help but notice that each time mankind discovers some technology that makes very few people rich, it always in perishes others.
It's the machine, it did it, I can't help it, nothing to be done.
This excuse - the machine controls it, I can't change what the machine does - is such bullshit.
The problem inside this story and with all stories like this nowadays is that money is power. A lot of money is control. Blaming the machine is a brilliant move. Now get out of the way.
Period.
Customers have 100% discretion to accept software price recommendations or they can go into debt or go homeless. It's their choice.
While people who care about other people are in office, we have alert action protecting against this arbitrary AI induced money making scheme for those in the greedy corporate world. "Hallelujah" to O'Rourke in Philadelphia, and hopefully successful legal action coming in San Jose and New Jersey. Hurry before Trump's promise to help the poor takes root!
The collusion, if there is any, is being performed by landlords; they should be the focus here, not a software vendor. Banning a tool (i.e., the RealPage product) is the tail wagging the dog.
That sounds like a variation on "Guns don't kill people. People kill people." But as guns greatly enhance the killing power of people, so this software greatly enhances the exploitative, monopolizing power of landlords. So, yes, it is an issue.
Silly me. I thought social media was going to lead to the downfall of civilization. It's not...it will be AI.
Thank you PI. I hadn't seen this in the MSM.
Modern day usury. May these greedy bastards face the same penalty as was meted out in the Old Testament: death. Meanwhile, young people can't begin to put aside money for a down payment on a home of their own, because every penny they would save is going into the pockets of these SOB's.
And where will this all end up in the 🤡 DOJ? Keep the spotlight on this Judd. Excellent reporting. I’m in Atlanta and this has been a problem for many years. I’m assuming we were the first test market.
I remember apartment shopping with my daughter and wondering why they would say to us when leaving…”the prices are only good for today, they go up and down daily? Just like the stock market.” It all makes sense now.
Just another fine example of the free market at work, here in 2025, right?
It's encouraging that some areas are addressing this problem, but I believe [know] there should be national law-- oh wait, we have anti-trust laws... why aren't we using them?
DOJ filed based on the Sherman Act which is an anti-trust law.
“The new CEA report builds on a civil antitrust lawsuit filed in August by the DOJ and the Attorneys General of eight states.”
While it is easy to hop on the bandwagon of “Landlords are Evil” the truth is far different. Tenants have more rights than landlords, ask any landlord how much time, often months or years, and money it costs to evict a tenant for non-payment of rent. Ask any landlord how many tenants took advantage of pandemic laws that prohibited evictions but allowed tenants to stop paying rent. Ask a landlord who tries to provide a safe, comfortable residential environment what it feels like when a tenant skips out in the middle of a weekend and damages the property. On the other side banks and interest rates and shortages of qualified maintenance and repair personnel. If one does not like the value for rent, move. Don’t sign a lease, stop paying rent and complain that life is too hard.
It's not that there are negative sides of being a landlord, nobody would argue that. It's just that listing said negative sides does very little. What does it accomplish in fact? I wonder. What are we suppose to do? Empathize with landlords for their oh difficult life? List the negative sides of being a renter? And what after all that? Where are we left?
I encourage you to reflect on what you were trying to do by listing landlord's difficulties (which are necessarily marginal otherwise being a landlord wouldn't be lucrative). In the end, this is a power relationship with the landlord on top and the renter at the bottom. That there are edge cases where landlords are left with the short end of the stick does not change that fact. Don't forget that landlords own the property, where the money is.
I'm not excusing bad tenant behavior, I'm only questioning the validity of bringing it up in this context.
This is very similar to politicians bringing up mom and pop shops when talking about the economical validity of raising taxes on (the richest) businesses. One has to question their intentions there as I question yours here.
This argument is a non sequitur: arbitrary rent raises[ RealPage’s 'rates are what they are.'] have nothing to do with the average renter just living an average life.
Oh, look - the WaPo has caught up with Popular Information
"Exclusive
Landlords are accused of colluding to raise rents. See where"
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/interactive/2025/realpage-lawsuit-rent-map/
(Sorry if this paywalls - tried to use a gift link, and the app wouldn't copy it)