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RealPage, facing legal troubles over its rent optimization software, is seeking to dismiss a complaint from the Arizona attorney general. The company's lawyers argue that the case falls outside the Arizona Consumer Fraud Act, is beyond the statute of limitations, and lacks specific claims of fraud. As we’ll discuss in today’s email, the defense aims to dismiss the charges based on these technicalities, rather than addressing the merits of the case itself.

While the "flight-to-quality" narrative suggests that only the most luxurious offices will thrive in the struggling commercial real estate market, a recent analysis challenges this notion. In a new article, we explain how many of the best-performing offices are suburban Class B and C properties catering to non-tech and non-finance tenants. These affordable, well-located offices prove that opportunities for success exist in the evolving office landscape, even outside trophy spaces.

Now, let's dig in!

Inside RealPage’s Argument to Throw Out Arizona Anti-Trust Case

RealPage has been in legal hot water over its rent optimization tool YieldStar for some time. In 2022, the company was hit with a couple of class action lawsuits claiming that the widespread use of its software violated antitrust laws and unfairly drove up rent. The heat intensified when the attorney general of Arizona came after the company directly in February.

In a new motion, RealPage’s lawyers are petitioning the judge to dismiss the complaint. They present three reasons for dismissal. First, they argue that the case does not fall within the scope of the Arizona Consumer Fraud Act, which is the statute it is claimed to violate. Second, the lawyers claim that many of the crimes RealPage is accused of are past the proper statute of limitations. “The Plaintiff appears to seek remedies beyond the four-year statute of limitations period applicable to the Arizona Antitrust Act."

Finally, the defense team argues that the lawsuit is not specific enough in its claims of fraud. The motion states that “in five threadbare paragraphs, Plaintiff generically alleges that ‘Lessor Defendants’ made unspecified statements or omissions about using RealPage revenue management software (RMS) to unidentified recipients at unspecified times. The Complaint nowhere alleges that any Defendant made a specific false statement or omission to a consumer.”

The motion goes on to provide precedent and legal theory for each of these arguments. It concludes that the court should dismiss any claim against RealPage that occurred before February 28th, 2020.

There is no way of knowing how the judge will decide this motion, but the focus on the statute of limitations, rather than the actual merits of the case, reveals something about the defense’s strategy. Arguing that a pricing algorithm is not the same as price-fixing involves complex theories about the nature of fraud and the technology used. Rather than addressing those points at this stage, the defense hopes to get the case, or at least some of the charges, dismissed now and, if they are lucky, avoid them altogether.

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Propmodo Daily is written and edited by Franco Faraudo with contributions from readers like you and the Propmodo team.

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