Camden Property Trust Latest to Settle RealPage Case

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Houston-based Camden Property Trust is the latest domino to fall in the broader RealPage rent-fixing legal war.

The landlord agreed last week to pay $53 million to resolve the claims it faces as part of a civil case involving the use of RealPage software, Bisnow reported. The settlement was disclosed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

Camden will pay the fine across two installments, the first of which will be due within 45 days of the settlement’s approval. Camden is seeking preliminary approval of the deal by mid-May.

In addition to paying a fine — the same amount that Mid-America Apartment Communities agreed to pay in January to settle its claims — Camden committed to “including provisions relating to the disclosure and use of nonpublic data and the company’s use of revenue management software.” It did not, however, admit any fault or liability.

The company declined to comment to Bisnow on the settlement.

Several months ago, 27 landlords and property managers agreed to a preliminary $141 million settlement in the class-action lawsuit alleging a rent-fixing scheme. Greystar contributed the largest portion of the settlement at $50 million, while other firms like BH Management, Brookfield and Pinnacle Property Management Services sought to settle.

Litigation against RealPage surfaced after a 2022 ProPublica article that detailed how its YieldStar software — which has since been rebranded — could inflate rents and suppress competition across the country based on its algorithm.

The Department of Justice filed its own suit, raising industrywide questions about whether sharing aggregated, anonymized rent data, as is central in RealPage’s software, could be construed as collusion. In November, RealPage reached a settlement with the DOJ, absolving the company of financial penalties and admissions of wrongdoing, contingent on the company committing to platform changes and agreeing to independent oversight.

Camden, which owns 172 properties with nearly 59,000 total units, recently underwent a leadership change. Alex Jessett, previously president and chief financial officer, ascended to the role of CEO, the first time the company has had a new CEO since going public in 1993.

Co-founder Ric Campo, the former CEO, moved to the role of executive chair of the Board of Trust Managers.

— Holden Walter-Warner