U.S. landlords who use RealPage products to set prices on rental apartments are facing accusations of collusion.
  • A group of lawsuits accuse large landlords of price-fixing the market rate of rent in the United States
  • A complaint filed by Washington D.C.’s Attorney General alleges 14 landlords in the district are sharing competitively sensitive data through RealPage, a real estate software provider
  • RealPage recommends prices for roughly 4.5 million housing units in the United States
  • RealPage told CNBC that its landlord customers are under no obligation to take their price suggestions

A group of renters in the U.S. say their landlords are using software to deliver inflated rent hikes.

“We’ve been told as tenants by employees of Equity that the software takes empathy out of the equation. So they can charge whatever the software tells them to charge,” said Kevin Weller, a tenant at Portside Towers since 2021.

Tenants say the management started to increase prices substantially after giving renters concessions during the Covid-19 pandemic.

  • bighi@lemmy.world
    231·
    9 months ago

    Here in Brazil it’s much simpler because when you rent a place, basic services like electricity and water are transferred to you. So you get the bills, not your landlord.

    And services like internet, you hire your own instead of using the ISP hired by your landlord.

    • FrostyTrichs@lemmy.world
      37·
      9 months ago

      It isn’t consistent in the US. Some landlords or properties include utilities in the price of rent, some don’t. Some only include things like trash/water/sewer and it’s up to you to source an electric/gas/internet provider.

    • The Pantser@lemmy.world
      162·
      9 months ago

      USA landlords own the building so they get to say who your provider is and they will sometimes partner with a specific ISP and that is the only one you are allowed to use.

      • DominusOfMegadeus@sh.itjust.works
        68·
        9 months ago

        This…is not correct

        EDIT: OK so clearly some landlord are dicks and are telling people whom they have to use. I can see it if it’s included in the rent, but if not, I do not see how they could force someone. I am also not a lawyer and cannot speak the the legality of said practices. I have lived in a lot of apartments in a lot of places. Internet and electric have never been included in the rent,and I have never been told which provider I was required to use.

        • fishpen0@lemmy.world
          11·
          9 months ago

          It’s highly dependent on state and municipality but it actually is. I was shocked when I moved to San Diego and about half of all managed buildings we talked to had a single partner isp/cable provider. While it is technically in your rights to force them to let you install a dish because of federal laws, nothing requires them to let a different cable or internet provider run physical cable up their skyscraper so they all cut deals with just one for a kickback. We had to give up on a building we really liked because the only provider was still DSL

          • DominusOfMegadeus@sh.itjust.works
            18·
            9 months ago

            Okayyyyy, I’m sorry you believed what they told you,and maybe California has some crazy laws I’m not familiar with, but in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Alaska at least, renters can choose from whatever electric or internet providers are available in the area.

            • fishpen0@lemmy.world
              12·
              9 months ago

              I actually just looked into it and it was 100% legal for landlords to do this until a new FCC rule kicked in in 2022. Your lived experience is not the same as actual laws. You are technically correct but only since 2022. Given I moved to this city in 2020, we can both be correct. Isn’t that neat? It’s likely the other commenter in the thread also had this experience before 2022.

              https://www.cnet.com/home/internet/internet-for-apartments/

                • fishpen0@lemmy.world
                  14·
                  9 months ago

                  Yes crazy how that goes. But being unhelpful and a dick is a choice you made in your comments while I actually refuted you and brought proof

            • TrickDacy@lemmy.world
              14·
              9 months ago

              I’ve lived in three states and in two of them you’re wrong. Landlords do shit and get away with it. Sometimes it’s illegal but not always.

        • TrickDacy@lemmy.world
          52·
          9 months ago

          It is. Looked at an apartment yesterday who only provides Comcast as an ISP option and includes it mandatorily with rent payments. But sure be confidently incorrect

        • TrickDacy@lemmy.world
          22·
          9 months ago

          I’ve heard of just about any utility being included in rent and I’ve personally experienced a few of them being. Also it’s pretty easy if you own a large apartment building to have a say-so over who installs shit in your building. It’s all highly specific on the local context and how much of a greedy asshole the building owners are

    • mozz@mbin.grits.dev
      9·
      9 months ago

      That’s usually the US system, but occasionally not. Like a lot of things, there’s no consistency; it’s just kind of a big freedom free-for-all for better or for worse.

    • Steve@startrek.website
      71·
      9 months ago

      Yea it varies. I pay the electric and internet bills, the landlord pays the water/sewer/trash/tax bills. FL USA.

    • TrickDacy@lemmy.world
      61·
      9 months ago

      This is pretty similar to how it is in the US at over 90% of the places I’ve ever rented. But since we’re the world leader in enshittification, this kind of scumbag bullshit has been on the rise over the last few years.