New York Attorney General Letitia James has filed a major lawsuit against RealPage, a Texas-based rent-setting software company, accusing it of orchestrating a price-fixing scheme that artificially inflated rents across New York State. The lawsuit, announced on Thursday, claims that RealPage worked with some of the state’s largest landlords to share confidential pricing data and coordinate rent hikes in violation of antitrust laws.
According to the complaint, RealPage’s software allowed landlords to input sensitive data, such as occupancy rates and rental prices, which the platform then used to recommend uniform rent increases across competing properties. This practice, James alleges, reduced competition and drove up housing costs for thousands of tenants in New York City, Westchester, and beyond. “RealPage and its clients are accused of rigging the rental market at the expense of hardworking New Yorkers,” James said at a press briefing. “This manipulation of the market is illegal and deeply harmful to families who are already struggling with affordability.”
The AG’s office claims the collusion started as early as 2016 and has impacted tens of thousands of rental units. The lawsuit seeks to ban RealPage from operating its rent-setting software in New York and demands financial restitution for affected tenants. The case comes amid growing national scrutiny of corporate influence in housing markets, with similar legal actions filed in other states.
RealPage has denied any wrongdoing, saying its software complies with all laws and merely provides analytics for landlords. But housing advocates hailed the lawsuit as a critical step toward transparency and fairness in the rental market. The case is expected to have wide-reaching implications for how data-driven pricing tools are used in real estate.