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DOJ sues realpage for algorithmic pricing scheme that harms renters

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Re: DOJ sues realpage for algorithmic pricing scheme that harms renters

#431

Post by SoftTalker »

ebiester wrote: post #387
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #364

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Have you paid attention to the percentage of wages required for a unit nationally? In your area? Roommates.

I too had roommates coming up. People today have roommates coming up. That doesn't change the fact that even with roommates, the burden is disproportionately higher than it was for the last generation, particularly with housing. Median household county in my area is about $55,000 a year. The median price of a house is $450,000. Assuming two people, the 50th percentile wage is equivalent of $14/hour. (This as an eyeba…

If you are saving a down payment for a house you need to be spending far less than "32% of income" on your current rent. You need to move farther out, find a smaller/shittier place to live, be frugal with everything else, and/or increase your income. This has always been the case, unless you are earning well above average income.

Re: DOJ sues realpage for algorithmic pricing scheme that harms renters

#433

Post by __loam »

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #407
mullingitover wrote: post #358

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Better yet, we can just copy Singapore or Vienna's public housing systems and actually have desirable public housing. Arguably, the reason we don't already have this is because a large contingent of the voting public has been conditioned to believe that if the government does something well, it's communism, so the government should do anything well.

We don’t have it because we aren’t a city state. In Singapore, you have a few choices, but they are all in Singapore. If the public housing system came to the USA without any local residency requirements, everyone would want to live in a few hot cities and the system would just fall apart. Not only that, once residency restrictions are in place, people will be stuck in places due to their public housing, they won’t b…

This is bizarre reasoning.

Re: DOJ sues realpage for algorithmic pricing scheme that harms renters

#434

Post by PeterisP »

jasode wrote: post #19

>Armed with competing landlords’ data, RealPage also encourages loyalty to the algorithm’s recommendations through, among other measures, “auto accept” functionality and pricing advisors who monitor landlords’ compliance. I think the "private prices" + "autoaccept" + "compliance" is the key misbehavior that gets RealPage into legal trouble. If competitors want to converge on prices in a legal manner , they have to do…

"compliance" alone is a sufficient misbehavior. No matter how people get to a price number, you can't have a contract or any other mechanism for the competitors to try and enforce the coordinated price, that's straight out wrong by itself.

Re: DOJ sues realpage for algorithmic pricing scheme that harms renters

#435

Post by __loam »

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #406
__loam wrote: post #337

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We should build large numbers of commie blocks until PE firms regret buying residential properties.

Commie blocks don’t work, just ask China who has an even more messed up property market than we do.

We could also ask the Soviet Union which despite being an authoritarian shithole, did not have homeless people.

In any case, most cities in the US have obvious supply side issues with housing. It doesn't matter who builds it, we need more supply. Why shouldn't it be the government?

Re: DOJ sues realpage for algorithmic pricing scheme that harms renters

#436

Post by animal_spirits »

diebeforei485 wrote: post #166
RhodesianHunter wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I have a strong incentive to undercut them Not in a supply constrained market where your rental will be occupied either way.

Sounds like removing the supply constraints would be a better strategy.

And supply constraints come from regulations on housing, zoning, and federal subsidies for "homeowners"

Re: DOJ sues realpage for algorithmic pricing scheme that harms renters

#437

Post by Spivak »

pb7 wrote: post #432
bankcust08385 wrote: post #430

Meanwhile, Bilt is sucking Wells Fargo dry by yuppie renters who can afford to spend $75k/yr dining out and paying $8k/month in rent. PS: I can't wait to delete the ActiveBuilding by RealPage app.

How are the two related?

They're not, "millennials eat out a lot" has become the new avocado toast. Like yeah when student loans, mortgage/rent, car payment, and bills are 6-8k out the door monthly it turns out a $40 night out stops moving the needle. If you eat out fri/sat every week that'll be 5% of your mandatory expenses. No one should be surprised folks don't give a shit.

I use the Chipotle burrito index to help folks understand the non-cost of eating out. My student loans are 120 burritos, my rent was 261 burritos. Getting a sub-pump installed is 952 burritos. Three cheers for prices of things rising non-uniformly.

Re: DOJ sues realpage for algorithmic pricing scheme that harms renters

#438

Post by sithadmin »

ndesaulniers wrote: post #417

Companies are culluding to suppress wages by algorithm, too. Look up a company called Aon, and their product called Radford Data & Analytics.

Not just by algorithm. In the US, many large employers utilize 'The Work Number' by Equifax for employment verification services, and share details about individual employees as granular as individual paycheck disbursements. This information is visible to other employers that buy in to the scheme, and obviously favors the employer in salary negotiations with a candidate.

Re: DOJ sues realpage for algorithmic pricing scheme that harms renters

#439

Post by eadmund »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #193
ZoomerCretin wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

I support price regulation when called for. Your hyperbole is...not congruent with reality, considering the incredible agriculture subsidies provided and automobile tariffs. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/08/economists... https://www.ncsl.org/financial-services/price-gouging-state-... https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases... From a paid Matt Stoller BIG ( https://thebignewslette…

> I support price regulation when called for.

When is price regulation ever called for? The only times I can think of are when there is a monopoly, oligopoly, monopsony, oligopsony or significant externalities.

> Laws to crack down on this behavior has popular support, so I won't spend additional time defending the idea in this forum

The popularity of a proposal has very little to do with its appropriateness.

Re: DOJ sues realpage for algorithmic pricing scheme that harms renters

#440

Post by siliconc0w »

Concentration is more likely problem. When there are only a handful of competitors in a geographical area they'll find a way to collude one way or another, even if it's just a signal group or staring at each out while slowly raise prices. I think >=6 is probably the point where you might start to see defectors.
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