Separate suits allege price fixing in Seattle by apartment companies
An antitrust lawsuit alleging price fixing by some prominent multifamily property owners in and around downtown Seattle was filed Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.
The class-action lawsuit states that the landlords, along with some property management companies, colluded and shared data through with RealPage Inc., effectively inflating rents to above competitive levels.
In addition to RealPage, Greystar, Trammell Crow Residential, FPI Management, Avenue5, Equity Residential, Essex Property Trust (NYSE: EQR), Thrive Communities, AvalonBay Communities (NYSE: AVB) and Security Properties are named as defendants.
“Anyone who’s played the rental game in Seattle knows that prices have become astronomically high, and leasing companies would rather have the public believe it’s entirely due to honest supply and demand,” Steve Berman, managing partner at Hagens Berman, said in a prepared statement announcing the lawsuit.
https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2022/11/16/lawsuits-allege-price-fixing-scheme-seattle.html