Texas-based RealPage’s YieldStar software helps landlords set prices for apartments across the U.S. With rents soaring, critics are concerned that the company’s proprietary algorithm is hurting competition.
by Heather Vogell, ProPublica
On a summer day last year, a group of real estate tech executives gathered at a conference hall in Nashville to boast about one of their company’s signature products: software that uses a mysterious algorithm to help landlords push the highest possible rents on tenants.
“Never before have we seen these numbers,” said Jay Parsons, a vice president of RealPage, as conventiongoers wandered by. Apartment rents had recently shot up by as much as 14.5%, he said in a video touting the company’s services. Turning to his colleague, Parsons asked: What role had the software played?
“I think it’s driving it, quite honestly,” answered Andrew Bowen, another RealPage executive. “As a property manager, very few of us would be willing to actually raise rents double digits within a single month by doing it manually.”
The celebratory remarks were more than swagger. For years, RealPage has sold software that uses data analytics to suggest daily prices for open units. Property managers across the United States have gushed about how the company’s algorithm boosts profits.
Recent Posts
A Hell Made for the Innocent: Of Monsters, Media, And The Gentle Language Of Genocide
Take Action Now Consider these words, from a Washington Post headline: “Gazans are dying of hunger.” That’s like saying a gunshot victim “died from…
Trump Wants To Stop Regulating Greenhouse Gases Entirely
Take Action Now The decision could have far-reaching consequences — including for the fossil fuel industry, which may find itself exposed to a flood…
‘MORAL INJURY’: Murdered In Gaza, Disappeared In America
Take Action Now It’s the concept that violence and injustice have more victims than the directly victimized. And can affect how we function and…
A Putz At Fascism, Too! Trump’s Feral, Libertarian Despotism Ordains Oligarchy, Not Centralized Dominance Or Unifying Vision
Take Action Now Trumpist extremism turns out to be a particularly noxious, authoritarian brew better called “oligarchic, authoritarian…