Two defendants named in a massive class-action lawsuit against RealPage and dozens of multifamily property owners have agreed to settle out of court.
All claims against Denver-based Apartment Income REIT and Dallas-Fort Worth-based Pinnacle Property Management Services have been resolved, lawyers for renter-plaintiffs said in a pair of filings with a Nashville federal court. The terms of the settlements were not disclosed.
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The agreements are the first to come out of more than 30 consolidated lawsuits that accuse RealPage of colluding with residential owners and operators to leverage their price-setting algorithm as a way to inflate rents beyond competitive levels.
"Despite the baselessness of the claims, AIR is pleased to exit the litigation early in a favorable manner," a representative for Apartment Income REIT, which does business as AIR Communities, said in a statement to Reuters.
The lawsuits also accuse owner-operators of sharing confidential data with RealPage, though AIR Communities said the plaintiffs had withdrawn that specific claim against them.
The case has embroiled large REITs like Essex Property Trust, Equity Residential, Camden Property Trust and Mid-America Apartment Communities, as well as industry heavyweights, including Greystar Real Estate Partners, Lincoln Property Co. and FPI Management.
Last month, a Tennessee judge rejected RealPage’s motion to dismiss the rent-fixing lawsuit, ruling that renters who brought the case showed enough cause for RealPage and its parent company, Thoma Bravo, to confront claims they schemed to keep prices above market rates in violation of U.S. antitrust law.
Representatives for RealPage have said the company maintains its innocence and plans to vigorously defend itself in court. The company did not respond to a Bisnow inquiry as of publication time.
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