$53M RealPage Rent Fixing Settlement Reached With Mid-America Apartments

Settlement resolves claims that Mid-America Apartments used shared pricing software to artificially raise rents.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Inc. has agreed to pay $53 million to resolve claims tied to a sweeping antitrust lawsuit accusing major landlords of conspiring to inflate apartment rents through the use of RealPage revenue management software.

The proposed settlement was disclosed in an 8-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on January 26, where Mid-America confirmed it reached an agreement to resolve claims brought by a certified class of renters who paid rent to landlords, property owners or managers that relied on RealPage’s revenue management platform.

RealPage is a technology company known for its real estate software, which assists property owners and managers in screening residents, setting rents, managing utilities and more.

However, evidence has emerged in recent years suggesting that RealPage uses an artificial algorithm to illegally conspire with landlords to set high rent prices. Following these revelations, the software has become the center of a federal multidistrict litigation (MDL) before Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw Jr. in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, claiming that competitors shared sensitive data and followed algorithmic recommendations instead of independently setting prices.

As a result, a growing number of states, the federal government and renters are pursuing RealPage lawsuits over the alleged unfairness and inaccuracies of the software’s algorithms.

Under the new agreement, Mid-America will pay two installments of $26.5 million, totaling $53 million, subject to court approval. The company also agreed to a series of prospective commitments governing its business practices, including provisions related to the disclosure and use of nonpublic data and its use of revenue management software. Mid-America said those commitments are consistent with its existing practices and will not require material changes to current operations.

The settlement does not include any admission of wrongdoing or liability. In its filing, Mid-America emphasized that the allegations were directed at dozens of major industry participants and were based on conduct plaintiffs claim was widespread across the multifamily housing market. The company said resolving the case now allows it to avoid the expense and distraction of prolonged litigation.

Plaintiffs are required to seek preliminary court approval of the settlement by March 31.

RealPage Rent Fixing Allegations

Mid-America’s agreement follows recent developments in the RealPage MDL, where a federal judge in Tennessee preliminarily approved 26 separate class settlements totaling approximately $141 million in November.

Those approvals came amid objections from the attorneys general of Washington, D.C., New Jersey, Maryland and Kentucky, who argued that the settlement materials lacked sufficient detail about how funds would be distributed and whether the relief adequately compensated renters.

Despite these recent agreements, litigation over RealPage’s pricing software remains ongoing against other defendants, with additional settlements and rulings expected to shape how the rent-fixing allegations are ultimately resolved.

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