The Justice Department’s suit against RealPage is poised to impact the outcome of other cases with similar allegations, amplifying claims that the revenue management company colluded to inflate rents nationwide. The DOJ filed a civil case in the US District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, asserting that RealPage violated antitrust laws by aiding property managers in conspiracy to elevate rental prices across millions of units. North Carolina, California, and Minnesota are some of the states joining this lawsuit, intensifying scrutiny on the Thoma Bravo LP affiliate that leverages landlord data to suggest rental unit prices in specific regions.
The private plaintiffs initially sued RealPage two years prior, leading to the consolidation of several cases into multidistrict litigation in Tennessee. Additionally, a 2022 lawsuit was filed by Washington, D.C., against RealPage and numerous landlords, accusing them of exchanging competitively sensitive data in breach of the District of Columbia Antitrust Act, with a trial set for 2026.
One of the critical elements is whether the DOJ has sufficiently alleged a conspiracy, with some attorneys expressing skepticism about the strength of the government’s charges. However, Danielle Morello, an attorney specializing in antitrust law at Clifford Chance’s Washington, D.C., office, notes this case as a “new frontier for very, very old statutes.”
The DOJ’s early and extensive discovery, including depositions and document reviews conducted over two years before filing suit, provides private plaintiffs with a significant advantage. “Private plaintiffs can beef up existing and future claims against RealPage by utilizing the discovery cited in the DOJ’s case,” said Dylan Carson, partner with Manatt, Phelps & Phillips LLP.
The DOJ’s case stands apart from private litigations by accusing RealPage of participating in an illegal information exchange rather than directly fixing prices. The government’s allegations remove the complications of multiple defendants by only targeting RealPage, claiming it maintained a monopoly in revenue management software that allegedly breaches Section 2 of the Sherman Act.
RealPage has disputed the DOJ’s claims, stating they “are devoid of merit” and pledged to robustly defend against these accusations.
Regardless of the outcome, the DOJ’s intervention is likely to support private litigations across the United States. Patrick Coughlin, an attorney at Scott & Scott Attorneys at Law LLP, noted, “This antitrust lawsuit only underscores the significance of our case against RealPage.”
The case is United States v. RealPage, Inc., M.D.N.C., No. 1:24-cv-00710, filed on August 23, 2024.
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