‘It’s price fixing’: Washington leaders target rent algorithm companies with lawsuit, legislation

As Washington state faces a persistent shortage of affordable housing, Attorney General Nick Brown and state lawmakers are targeting tech companies they allege use private data and collaborate to drive up costs for rental housing. Brown on Thursday filed a lawsuit against property management software company RealPage and nine Seattle-area landlords, accusing them of colluding to inflate rental costs. “RealPage and landlords conspired to artificially raise rents for thousands of people in multi-family housing in Washington,” Brown said in announcing the suit, which was filed in King County Superior Court. He alleges their actions violate the state’s Consumer Protection Act.… Read More

Apr 3, 2025 - 22:37

‘It’s price fixing’: Washington leaders target rent algorithm companies with lawsuit, legislation

Colorful apartments fill the skyline in Seattle’s South Lake Union neighborhood. (GeekWire File Photo / Kurt Schlosser)

As Washington state faces a persistent shortage of affordable housing, Attorney General Nick Brown and state lawmakers are targeting tech companies they allege use private data and collaborate to drive up costs for rental housing.

Brown on Thursday filed a lawsuit against property management software company RealPage and nine Seattle-area landlords, accusing them of colluding to inflate rental costs.

“RealPage and landlords conspired to artificially raise rents for thousands of people in multi-family housing in Washington,” Brown said in announcing the suit, which was filed in King County Superior Court.

He alleges their actions violate the state’s Consumer Protection Act.

“Every step of their pricing method favors setting rents at the very top of the market, artificially pushing that ceiling higher,” Brown said. “It’s price fixing. It’s illegal, and it hurts Washingtonians.”

The suit marks the latest legal action against Texas-based RealPage, which is facing a separate lawsuit filed by the Justice Department in 2024.

At the same time, state lawmakers in Washington are advancing Senate Bill 5469, which would prohibit the use of algorithms to fix rental housing prices.

Mike Semko, associate general counsel and vice president at RealPage, in March testified before a House committee in opposition to SB 5469.

Semko addressed specific allegations raised by Brown and lawmakers, saying the company primarily uses publicly available data to generate rental rate suggestions, does not encourage landlords to keep properties off the market to create scarcity, and does not push managers to select higher rental rates.

“This is simply market research and analysis with a suggested price… This bill, in its current form, bans the use of all external data,” Semko said. “It essentially bans math.”

He added that every U.S. industry, whether selling “cookies, cheeseburgers, cars, coal, concrete, whatever, every seller in every industry is using software to help them price their units. That’s just the way it works. These are super complicated calculators that assist sellers in very dynamic and complicated markets.”

The Senate and one House committee has already passed the measure. There will be a public hearing Friday on SB 5469 before the House Committee on Appropriations.

Former Attorney General Bob Ferguson, who is now governor, has likewise been concerned about the impact of RealPage’s software on rental prices. In early 2023 he launched an investigation into the issue, following a ProPublica report that found in Seattle’s Belltown neighborhood, 70% of the apartments were handled by 10 property managers that all used RealPage.

Worries that RealPage and similar companies are providing services that illegally fix rental costs extends beyond Washington state.

The U.S. Department of Justice in August 2024 filed its lawsuit that accused RealPage of conspiring with landlords to inflate rental prices. Washington and seven other states joined the suit.

In February, Brown’s office withdrew from that effort, leading to the new suit filed today.

“This is a bigger case,” Brown said. “We felt like we could provide protections and restitution for more people in Washington by withdrawing from the federal case, which was more narrow in scope. So there are more landlords that are part of this case, there are more tenants who are impacted by this case, and we felt that we could provide for more direct and more substantial potential restitution.”

Sen. Jesse Salomon, D-Shoreline, is the prime sponsor of the Senate bill.

He said the legislation is complementary to the lawsuit, and that in “the meantime, we must make it plainly illegal to use software that facilitates rent price-fixing. SB 5469 will put a law on the books that ends this practice in Washington state once and for all.”

The state’s lawsuit said that last year, nearly half of renters saw increases of more than $100 per month, and 15% had rent increases of more than $250 per month.

“These dramatic increases often outpace wage growth, leaving many renters struggling to keep up with housing costs,” the lawsuit states.

In addressing the House committee, Semko noted that in the regions where rents are higher, such as the Northeast, RealPage has limited market penetration. The higher costs, he said, are due to a shortage of housing.

Jennifer Bowcock, spokesperson for RealPage, echoed those thoughts and added that the company is operating legally.

“We believe the claims brought by Washington State AG Nick Brown are devoid of merit and will do nothing to make housing more affordable,” she said via email. “Washington state should stop scapegoating pro-competitive technology, and we encourage Washington state’s public leaders to focus on meeting the greater demand for housing with more supply.”

This week, RealPage filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Berkeley, Calif., which recently passed an ordinance aimed at regulating algorithmic rental software.

See the full suit filed by the Washington AG below.

‘It’s price fixing’: Washington leaders target rent algorithm companies with lawsuit, legislation by GeekWire on Scribd