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
The World is Getting Too Hot to Feed Itself
Take Action Now A new U.N. report maps how extreme heat is tearing through every layer of the global food system — and mostly overlooks the people at…
Cuba’s Fate Should Not Be in U.S. Hands
Take Action Now U.S. officials are relying on Trump’s executive order of January 29 which, without evidence, accused Cuba of being an “extraordinary…
As Opposition Grows, Oklahoma Organizers Share How They Halted an ICE Warehouse
Take Action Now Organizers also channeled mass outrage into long-haul organizing for immigration justice in Oklahoma and beyond.By Lydia…
Meet the Four Democrats Who’ll Decide If Trump Gets His Domestic Spying Law
Take Action Now “It all comes down to those four,” said an advocate, “and if they are going to continue to try to hand Trump warrantless…