Feds sue real estate software firm for allegedly pricing out renters WSOC TV [Video]

CHARLOTTE — Charlotte’s skyline is full of apartment buildings, but the government says tenants should be asking if they are paying too much rent.

“People are suffering in the community. It’s hard to stay in place for people if the rent keeps going up,” said Jessica Moreno, a tenant organizer with Action NC.

The Department of Justice announced Friday that it filed a civil antitrust lawsuit against Realpage, a rental software company out of Texas.

“If these corporate landlords can get away with it, they are going to do it,” said Moreno.

RealPage groups landlords together so that instead of competing for tenants, they can artificially boost prices, the government said

“We’ve seen that trend for many years,” said Moreno.

RealPage released a response: “This has perpetuated an inaccurate and distorted narrative about RealPage.”

The company said rising rent costs are due to persistent undersupply of rental housing units and inflationary pressures which affect costs to build, insure, and …