phkahlerNov 26

Justice dept. requires RealPage end sharing competitively sensitive information

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-requires-realpage-end-sharing-competitively-sensitive-information-and

Justice Department Requires RealPage to End the Sharing of Competitively Sensitive Information and Alignment of Pricing Among Competitors

The Justice Department’s Antitrust Division filed a proposed settlement today to resolve the United States’ claims against RealPage Inc. as part of its ongoing enforcement against algorithmic coordination, information sharing, and other anticompetitive practices in rental housing markets across the country. The proposed settlement would help restore free market competition in

Show threadnothercastleNov 26
They might not share info but they will regenerate identical suggestions from market data for ask customers effectively price fixing without clear collusion
Show threadgruezNov 26
Is that "price collusion" though? How's that different than if you're selling stuff on cragislist/facebook marketplace/ebay, and you set your price by looking what other listings are?
Show threadpaxys
If landlords want to just look at other public listings and adjust their own prices in response (which is completely legal to do) then why does a service like Realpage exist?
Nov 26 at 5:22pmWeb
Show threadtptacekNov 26
... isn't that what Realpage does?
Show threadpaxysNov 26

No it isn't.

Companies making individual decisions about pricing is legal.

Companies asking an external source (e.g. a consulting company) to help with pricing is legal.

Companies sharing nonpublic data with their competitors and setting prices collectively as a group is illegal.

The entire reason for Realpage's existence is to facilitate #3.

Show threadtptacekNov 26
Wait, your #3 appears to combine multiple factors. Is it "sharing nonpublic data" that's the problem or is it "setting prices collectively" that's a problem? Those aren't the same thing. Price-setting implies a commitment not to outbid counterparties.
Show threadpaxysNov 26

They are both illegal, and realpage does both.

Literally from the linked DoJ press release

> RealPage’s revenue management software has relied on nonpublic, competitively sensitive information shared by landlords to set rental prices. RealPage’s software has also included features designed to limit rental price decreases and otherwise align pricing among competitors.

Show threadtptacekNov 26

The sentence you quote says Realpage used nonpublic information to facilitate the setting of prices, but does not say that the sharing of nonpublic information is itself price setting. You can do lots of things to set prices; the key feature again is a commitment against defection.

I'm not sticking up for Realpage; I don't know enough about how it works.