Why a Congressional Lifeline Won’t Solve All of RealPage’s Legal Troubles

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• Anti-anti-trust: A House tax bill provision blocks local bans on price optimization software but won’t help RealPage’s legal troubles.

• Withering garden: if Country Garden can’t strike a restructuring deal by August, it could trigger a full liquidation and deepen China’s real estate crisis.

• Critic’s choice: A vacant $5 million townhouse in Brooklyn has sparked debate as a symbol of New York’s deepening housing crisis.

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Why a Congressional Lifeline Won’t Solve All of RealPage’s Legal Troubles

RealPage, the embattled rental data firm under fire for its algorithmic pricing software, may have found some unlikely relief. It’s not from the courts, but buried in the fine print of the new, sweeping House tax bill. The legislation, passed last week, includes a provision that would bar state and local governments from regulating artificial intelligence and automated decision-making systems for a full decade.

For RealPage and its landlord clients, the measure could quell a growing tide of local bans targeting algorithmic rent-setting tools, which critics say at least partly fueled pandemic-era rent spikes. Already, cities like San Francisco, Philadelphia, and Providence, Rhode Island, have outlawed such software, with other bans pending in San Diego and Colorado.

The proposed federal moratorium would dramatically reshape that landscape. If passed by the Senate and signed into law, it would effectively preempt municipalities' ability to take regulatory action against rent-setting algorithms, such as RealPage’s.

But the bill offers no shelter from other legal storms RealPage faces. The company is entangled in dozens of class action cases and state investigations, with the U.S. Department of Justice also pursuing an antitrust case. Because these lawsuits are grounded in longstanding antitrust and consumer protection laws rather than newer AI-specific rules, legal experts say the House bill would not invalidate them.

The financial stakes are immense. Capstone, a D.C. based policy risk advisory firm, estimates RealPage could be on the hook for up to $73 billion in damages. The company’s reputation is already suffering, with many clients reportedly jumping ship out of fear of the legal implications of using YieldStar, the key piece of proprietary software being scrutinized in the cases.

Landlord groups, such as the National Multifamily Housing Council (NHMC), are backing the federal moratorium on local AI regulation, framing it as a bulwark against regulatory uncertainty. NMHC President Sharon Wilson Géno described the legislation as a critical step to ensure multifamily owners “feel confident they are operating on the side of the law and they will not get sued.”

Behind the scenes, NMHC played a key role in crafting the provision. It participated in a bipartisan House task force last year aimed at shaping national AI policy, an effort that helped inspire the tax bill’s AI clause.

Even if federal preemption becomes law, local officials aren’t backing down. Some are prepared to double down on rent control and other tenant protections, while others are weighing lawsuits against the federal government to defend their regulatory authority. While the federal AI clause may not solve all of RealPage’s problems, it would still be a welcome reprieve for a company fighting legal and political battles on multiple fronts.

Overheard

China's Largest Defunct Developer Fails to Get Support for Debt Restructuring

Country Garden is one of China's largest developers. In October of 2023, it announced that it was defaulting on $14.1 billion dollars worth of loans that were held by foreign banks and creditors. Since then Country Garden has been trying to restructure the debt with the help of a "co-ordination committee." In order for a deal to be accepted, it needs support from three-quarters of debt holders in two individual groups: bank lenders and bondholders. So far it has gotten enough support from bond holders but not the lenders.

The main issue is what will be done with a $178 million collateral package that banks had seized earlier in the process. The two sides have not agreed on how to release this collateral, making it harder to complete the restructuring. The last hearing is in August and if no deal can be reached, it would force complete liquidation.

There are larger implications of the Country Garden saga. China is trying to curb a growing real estate crisis. It has already eased certain real estate ownership restrictions and has already helped prop up some of its hardest hit developers like China Vanke. Unlike China Vanke, which was largely owned by a state-owned enterprise, Shenzhen Metro, Country Garden is a fully private company owned by the Yang family. If Country Garden is not able to successfully restructure their defaulted debt, there will be further concerns about other Chinese property companies that are struggling under their debt load, which could erode investor confidence in Chinese real estate and even Chinese investment as a whole.

A $4.85M Townhouse, a Tiny Plaque, and a Statement on NYC’s Housing Crisis

A gleaming white townhouse in Brooklyn’s Clinton Hill has recently become an unexpected symbol of New York City’s housing crisis. Designed by Swiss architect Inès Lamunière, the five-story home, set on a former gas station lot, is a stark contrast to the surrounding brownstones. Its bright orange doors and massive windows demand attention.

But in May, an anonymous critic left a different kind of mark: a rather sarcastic museum-style plaque calling out the irony of a vacant luxury home in a city with a 1.6% vacancy rate and rising housing insecurity.

New York City
Housing Crisis, 2025

New apartment, fully furnished, warmly lit, no inhabitants

This piece asks us to consider the tension between NYC’s historically low apartment vacancy rate (1.6%) and the price of this vacant duplex ($5.25m).

Though the plaque was swiftly removed, the message reportedly struck a chord, according to the New York Times. Longtime residents and artists have praised its candor, while others defended the developer’s right to price according to market demand. Now listed at $4.85 million, the house continues to stir debate in another U.S. urban neighborhood caught between reinvention and erasure.

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