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Greystar was using rent-setting algorithms from software company RealPage, the subject of a 2022 ProPublica investigation that showed the firm was helping landlords decide prices in a way that legal experts said could result in cartel-like behavior. By @heathervogell.bsky.social

propublica.orgAmerica’s Largest Landlord Makes Deal With DOJ to Settle Price-Fixing Claims in RealPage CaseGreystar, which manages nearly 950,000 apartments, has agreed to stop using “anti-competitive” algorithms to suggest rents. ProPublica previously showed how such software lets landlords set rents in a...

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Its companies like this who forced ppl onto the streets or living in their cars because the amount for rent was outrageous. They devastated families and started the spiral. Fuck them, they shouldn't be offered and deal without jail time. The same thing happened with the banks. Private Equity is next

We rented out our folks place after they passed. The property managers kept trying to hike the rent in $200 increments. We kept making them refund the tenants and keep the rent where it was (already too damn high). They used some app for setting the rents. We told them WE SET THE RENT, not an app.

"... the terms ... of the proposed settlement, Greystar has agreed to stop sharing its own “competitively sensitive” information ... And it won’t attend meetings of competitors hosted by RealPage." IS THAT IT??? And all the renters who are now paying way high monopolized rents? What about them?

All the apartment management companies use the same software or they just call their competitors and ask their prices. Leasing agents do this weekly. I used to be in this industry and worked for Greystar which is the largest property management company in the world.

It’s still a supply issue. If there wasn’t demand for the high rates, the yield systems that apartments (and all hotels by the way) use wouldn’t be so profitable. Why is it impossible to build new, affordable housing? If it was profitable, builders would be doing it.

It’s not as profit as building a more upscale home. Plus to keep it more affordable they purchase cheaper materials and the homes start having serious problems.

Thank you ProPublica for battling for fairness. The US is in an under-reported housing crisis that is failing its citizens. Our kids, our elderly and those struggling to just exist are being left out in the cold.

Dozens of tenants sued RealPage after the initial story. The Justice Department filed an antitrust complaint against RealPage in August 2024, and in January, it sued six of the nation’s landlords, including Greystar, accusing them of improperly working together to raise rents.

My rent was raised the highest just this year. Making a hardship on seniors should be a crime. I am trying to get out of these crappy apts. Hope I am successful next year. When I do....I will tell my story about Edward Rose and Sons Property Company. Do a search on Reddit and the BBB...you will see.

Sounds similar to something that happened in Canada years ago. a certain wealthy Canadian family in the grocery business (Weston) got caught for pricing fix bread, and got off scott free after 14 years of price fixing thanks to the CPC government lead by the prince of darkness Stephen Harper

Do not ever rent from Greystar! This is the most corrupt company I’ve ever done business with! You are literally fucked if sign a lease with this company! There are websites informing the public about their illegal practices. Take heed.

Gosh, it’s almost like one way to ensure more affordable housing in this country is to break up corporations that are facilitated and participating in price fixing. IDK, I could be totally off base. It’s confusing trying to figure out what counts for free market capitalism in ‘Merica anymore.

Legal experts? When the behavior is laid out in plain language on every rental website and rental ad, what are these cases really about? Campaign finance? Political polling? Is the second biggest company now the first?

Greystar is not the only rental agency using Real Page. In South Florida ZRS Management is also using it and gouging renters. Yearly increases for a 1 bedroom 900 sqft increase from $400-$600 per month. Forces people to move each year to stay ahead of the increases with the new tenant incentives.

Greystar of course. My son was a student residing in a barebones apt at the District in Pittsburgh, which is mostly occupied by students. They raised the rent 28% during COVID. He had to leave. Of course this admin favors landlords. No surprise.

Seems like this DOJ actively seeks out the worst criminals (typically wealthy ones) and then gives them sweetheart deals…meanwhile a former DOJ worker who was dismissed for no reason worthy of dismissal will feel the full wait of the DOJ for hitting a rent-a-cop with a sandwich. FFS.

I tire of these "Deals" replacing actual punishment. Cost of Doing "Business". Assume "Business" will continue to get "Done"... ...to you & me & all us little non-incorporated human beings.

Can you be anymore ridiculous? Not everyone can afford to buy a home or maybe their job relocates them fairly often. If you have a family of 4-5 you would force them into an apartment only?