Software that advises landlords on how to set prices (as high as possible).
The company that produces YieldStar, RealPage, was fined $3m for violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act in 2018. Following reporting from ProPublica,1 the company is under investigation for anticompetitive behaviour2 and is being sued for violations of the Sherman Act, and San Francisco has moved to ban algorithmic rental pricing.3
cf Yardi Systems, which produces the similar RENTmaximizer (New lawsuit alleges price-fixing at Seattle-area apartment buildings | The Seattle Times)
Heather Vogell, “Department of Justice Opens Investigation Into Real Estate Tech Company Accused of Collusion with Landlords” (ProPublica, November 23, 2022), https://www.propublica.org/article/yieldstar-realpage-rent-doj-investigation-antitrust.
Ryan Little Haru Coryne, “Rent Going Up? One Company’s Algorithm Could Be Why.” (ProPublica, October 15, 2022), https://www.propublica.org/article/yieldstar-rent-increase-realpage-rent.
Sydney Johnson, “SF Moves to Ban AI Housing Tools Linked to Price Fixing in Thousands of Rentals,” July 31, 2024, https://www.kqed.org/news/11998121/sf-moves-to-ban-ai-housing-tools-linked-to-price-fixing-in-thousands-of-rentals.