How RealPage is turning the page after DOJ settlement 

After a lengthy court battle with the U.S. Department of Justice, RealPage has been focused on connecting with its customers as it moves past the litigation and settlement.

A fight over price-fixing

In November, the company settled a lawsuit brought by the federal government related to its multifamily property management software. The DOJ first filed a lawsuit in August 2024 alleging that RealPage's algorithms resulted in price fixing, keeping rent prices high. Five months later, the DOJ amended the complaint to include several major rental investment or management companies that used RealPage pricing software. 

Throughout the investigation, RealPage maintained that its software was built to be legally compliant, and the settlement did not involve an admission of guilt or any financial penalties. While the company can continue to sell the product, it can no longer use competitors' nonpublic information to determine rental prices, and it agreed to a court-appointed monitor to ensure compliance.

The real problem? Supply vs. demand

When filing its amended complaint, the DOJ said it wanted to end the defendants' "practice of putting profits over people and make housing more affordable for millions of people across the country."

But the real cause of high housing costs, according to Dirk Wakeham — who was appointed CEO of RealPage just weeks before the settlement was announced — is a combination of years of underbuilding and the growing number of renters who can't afford to buy.

"It's not because everyone is overcharging for things," Wakeham told Real Estate News earlier this month. "There are more people who want to rent than people who want to rent to them. It's just the law of supply and demand."

A barrier to sales

The lawsuit, Wakeham said, was an obstacle that RealPage is relieved to have out of the way. The software at issue in the complaint only represented 7% of the company's revenue, he noted — RealPage has more than 100 products, including tools to help landlords with utility management, applicant screening, marketing and financial services — and the company rolled out a variety of new AI-powered products in September.

But getting them in front of potential customers was challenging since the company was still embroiled in litigation at the time.

Some of RealPage's "best customers," Wakeham said, had been advised by their legal counsel to avoid the company's product release show "for fear of being accused of colluding with one another," Wakeham said. "It's a pretty tough place to be."

Getting 'crisper' on messaging

Since stepping into the CEO role, Wakeham — who was previously president of RealPage from 2007 to 2013 — has been on a bit of a listening tour. Clients have been asking a lot of questions about artificial intelligence and how the company is moving forward after the DOJ settlement, he said, but they appear to be satisfied with the answers they've received.

RealPage hasn't lost any customers because of the lawsuit, Wakeham noted. Clients have been more concerned about the operations and offerings of the company itself — a business that has been shaped by 60 acquisitions over the past 25 years.

"We've got to get crisper around how we message," Wakeham said, particularly when it comes to how RealPage can help customers run their businesses more efficiently and generate higher returns.

A slow embrace of technology

Wakeham believes new technology will play a key role in the competitive rentals market. But there's more to being AI-powered than simply adding "a thin wrapper around someone else's model," he noted in a Mar. 23 LinkedIn post — it has to actually deliver.

"The question I'd ask any vendor right now isn't 'do you have AI?' It's: where in my operations does your AI reduce costs or drive revenue, and how do I measure it over 90 days?" Wakeham wrote.

There's also a fundamental issue tech companies like RealPage have to acknowledge: Rentals is an industry with a "long tail," so it will take time for everyone to get on board.

"We've offered payment products here for 20 years, and there's still a large percentage of the renting universe that drops a check off to a leasing office on the first of the month," Wakeham said. "People still write checks and owners still want to take checks."