A nonpartisan corporate watchdog group, Accountable.US, has called on New Jersey State Attorney General Matt Platkin to investigate major rental companies for alleged illegal rent-price fixing.
This appeal is part of a broader effort targeting state attorneys general in New Jersey, California, Colorado, Massachusetts, and New York, urging them to scrutinize the business practices of these companies, which have already been sued in Washington D.C. over similar allegations.
In a letter dated June 26, 2024, Accountable.US President Caroline Ciccone urged Platkin to probe the activities of rental giants AvalonBay Communities and Equity Residential.
Both companies have been implicated in a lawsuit by the District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb for allegedly sharing rental data with RealPage, a property management software firm, to fix prices unlawfully.
The D.C. lawsuit claims that several real estate investment firms colluded to use RealPage’s software to set rents, instead of competing on prices, leading to inflated rents for tens of thousands of apartments and forcing tenants to overpay millions of dollars.
Similar lawsuits have been filed by attorneys general in Arizona and North Carolina, and the U.S. Department of Justice is also reportedly investigating RealPage.
“If these companies were willing to allegedly engage in price fixing while surrounded by federal and local regulators in the nation’s capital and in other states, why wouldn’t they do the same in New Jersey?” the letter from Accountable.US asks.
Accountable.US recently published a report indicating that the six largest publicly traded apartment companies, which include Mid-America Apartments, AvalonBay Communities, Equity Residential, Essex Property Trust, Camden Property Trust, and UDR, collectively reported nearly $300 million in increased profits in the first quarter of 2024, largely attributed to significant rent increases.
These companies have all faced lawsuits related to their alleged use of RealPage for data collusion.
Ciccone emphasized the urgency of investigating these claims to address the housing affordability crisis, highlighting the need for robust action from regulators at every level.
She noted that while federal efforts are crucial, state-level investigations are also vital to protect residents from potential price-gouging by large landlords.
RealPage, for its part, defends its software, asserting that it helps landlords estimate supply and demand for apartment listings to determine fair rents.
In a statement last month, RealPage CEO Dana Jones responded to the allegations, saying, “Housing affordability should be the real focus. RealPage is proud of the role our customers play in providing safe and affordable housing to millions of people.”
In New Jersey, where the median monthly rent of $2,500 surpasses the national average of $2,150, housing affordability continues to be a significant challenge.
According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, New Jersey residents need to earn a minimum of $38 an hour to afford a two-bedroom home, the seventh-highest housing wage in the United States.
“Many of the 114 million renters in the United States are without basic rights, yet they deserve protection against fraud and corporate theft,” said New Jersey fair housing advocate Lisa McCormick, who endorsed the National Tenants Bill of Rights proposed by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, National Housing Law Project, and Tenant Union Federation.
“The National Tenants Bill of Rights will correct the power imbalance between tenants and landlords that fuels racial inequities and puts the 114 million Americans who rent their homes at greater risk of housing instability, harassment, eviction, and homelessness,” said McCormick. “It is up to Attorney General Matt Platkin to investigate corporate landlords who engage in price-gouging.”
A spokesperson for the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office declined to comment on the letter from Accountable.US, stating that the office does not discuss the status of ongoing investigations. Representatives from AvalonBay Communities and Equity Residential were not available for comment.