.png)
1 month ago
4
A "For Rent" sign is placed in front of a home in Arlington, Virginia, U.S., June 8, 2021. REUTERS/Will Dunham Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab
Oct 2 (Reuters) - (This Oct 2 story has been refiled to show Brookfield Management as a settling defendant in paragraph 6)
Property management giant Greystar has agreed to pay $50 million to resolve a lawsuit by renters who accused the company of conspiring with rivals to inflate rental prices using software made by RealPage.
Sign up here.
Greystar and 26 other defendants on Wednesday
submitted, opens new tabpreliminary class action settlements in the case totaling more than $141 million. The settlements in Nashville, Tennessee federal court require a judge's approval.
The plaintiffs in the 2023 case alleged that some of the country’s largest property managers and owners and operators of large-scale multifamily residential apartment buildings used RealPage revenue management programs to generate rental price recommendations above competitive market levels.
The lawsuit contends property managers shared confidential business information with the software platform, coordinating on pricing in violation of antitrust law.
The
proposed settlements range, opens new tabfrom $550,000 to Greystar’s $50 million. BH Management agreed to pay $15 million, and several other companies agreed to resolve claims against them for $6 million.
RealPage and the settling companies, including Greystar, BH Management and Brookfield Management, have denied any wrongdoing. About 20 defendants remain, including Equity Residential and RealPage.
RealPage in a statement on Thursday said its revenue management products and its customers' use of them have been legal.
"RealPage does not anticipate needing to make any changes to its revenue management software for customers to continue using the products pursuant to any terms in these settlements," the statement said.
Brookfield declined to comment. Equity did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Greystar, the largest manager of residential rental apartments in the United States, in a statement said the settlement allows the company to move forward and focus on its business priorities. BH Management had no immediate comment.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs, who have estimated that the settlement class could include millions of renters, said they hope the agreements will curb the practice of landlords sharing nonpublic data.
The settling defendants agreed as part of the settlement to some restrictions on data they share with RealPage for use in pricing recommendations, according to the plaintiffs.
The companies also said they would cooperate with the plaintiffs with depositions and other matters as they pursue related claims against the remaining companies.
The case is In re: RealPage Inc Rental Software Antitrust Litigation, U.S. District Court, Middle District of Tennessee, No. 3:23-md-3071.
For plaintiffs: Patrick Coughlin of Scott + Scott Attorneys at Law; Stacey Slaughter of Robins Kaplan; and Swathi Bojedla of Hausfeld
For RealPage: Stephen Weissman of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher
For Greystar: Karen Hoffman Lent of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
For BH Management: Ian Simmons of O’Melveny & Myers
Read more:
Reporting by Mike Scarcella
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab
