RealPage is an American multinational corporation that provides property management software for the multifamily, commercial, single-family, and vacation rental housing industries. Dana Jones is Chairman of the Board & Chief Executive Officer.[1]

RealPage
Company typePrivate
NasdaqRP (before acquisition)
IndustrySoftware
Founded1998; 26 years ago (1998)
HeadquartersRichardson, Texas
Key people
Dana Jones (CEO)
OwnerThoma Bravo
Websitewww.realpage.com

History edit

RealPage was founded in 1998 with the acquisition of Rent Roll, Inc.,[2] a provider of on-premises property management systems for the conventional and affordable multifamily rental housing markets.

RealPage moved its corporate headquarters to Richardson, Texas in 2016, and in 2017 acquired four companies — apartment market data provider Axiometrics, utility and energy management company American Utility Management, revenue management and pricing provider Lease Rent Options and also On-Site, a leasing and marketing platform company.[3]

In 2018, RealPage announced an agreement to purchase electronic payment platform company ClickPay, located in Hackensack, New Jersey.[4]

In July 2019, RealPage acquired utility management company SimpleBills.[5]

In December 2019, RealPage acquired Buildium.[6]

In January 2020, RealPage has agreed to acquire Modern Message, Inc.[7]

In September 2020, RealPage acquired real estate IoT startup Stratis.[8]

In December 2020, private-equity firm Thoma Bravo announced it would acquire RealPage for $9.6 billion, paying $88.75 per share for the company, a premium of 31% for their closing prices at the time. Its shares were reported up 26% that year.[9] The acquisition completed in April 2021.[10]

In January 2021, RealPage acquired bulk Internet provider WhiteSky.[11]

Controversy edit

In October 2022, ProPublica reported that landlords use RealPage's asset optimization algorithm called YieldStar (later rebranded as AI Revenue Management) to increase rents throughout the United States, naming its users an illegal cartel that encouraged participants to withhold rental units from the market. Overwhelmingly, approximately 90% of property managers/landlords approve price change suggestions by the software. RealPage's software strongly discourages landlord users from negotiating asking rent prices with tenants.[12]

In November 2022, the United States Department of Justice's Antitrust Division opened an investigation into RealPage, which is accused of contributing to higher rent prices throughout the United States. The company's YieldStar software is alleged to use an algorithm to "help landlords push the highest possible rents on tenants."[13]

References edit

  1. ^ "Management Team". RealPage.com. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
  2. ^ "Rent Roll, Inc. and RealPage Communications, Inc. Merge". Business Wire (Press release). December 11, 1998. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved February 24, 2016 – via Thefreelibrary.com. Three years later, they released their first on-demand property management product and since then, expanded the on-demand software solutions to include a number of value-added services from property management to renter's insurance and more.
  3. ^ Lane, Ben (August 2, 2017). "RealPage continues expanding, agrees to buy On-Site for $250 million - Acquiring leasing and marketing platform for rental properties". housingwire.com. Archived from the original on June 28, 2018. Retrieved June 28, 2018.
  4. ^ "BRIEF-Realpage To Acquire Clickpay For $218.5 Mln". Reuters. April 20, 2018. Archived from the original on June 28, 2018. Retrieved June 28, 2018.
  5. ^ Womack, Brian. "RealPage makes another purchase – and this time it's a Texas technology firm". Dallas Business Journal. Archived from the original on February 1, 2024. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
  6. ^ "RealPage to Acquire Buildium". realpage.com. Archived from the original on July 10, 2020. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
  7. ^ "RealPage to Acquire Modern Message". Business Wire (Press release). Archived from the original on February 6, 2020. Retrieved February 6, 2020 – via finance.yahoo.com.
  8. ^ Lardinois, Frederic (August 31, 2020). "RealPage acquires real estate IoT startup Stratis". techcrunch.com. Archived from the original on September 4, 2020. Retrieved September 3, 2020.
  9. ^ Gottfried, Miriam; Lombardo, Cara (December 21, 2020). "Thoma Bravo Agrees to Buy RealPage for $9.6 Billion". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Archived from the original on December 21, 2020. Retrieved December 22, 2020.
  10. ^ "Thoma Bravo Completes Acquisition of RealPage" (Press release). Business Wire. Archived from the original on April 23, 2021. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
  11. ^ "RealPage® Acquires WhiteSky Communications" (Press release). Business Wire. January 4, 2021. Archived from the original on January 4, 2021. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
  12. ^ Vogell, Heather; Coryne, Haru; Little, Ryan (October 15, 2022). "Rent Going Up? One Company's Algorithm Could Be Why". propublica.org. Archived from the original on October 15, 2022. Retrieved October 15, 2022.
  13. ^ Roth, Emma (November 26, 2022). "The DOJ is reportedly investigating rent-setting software company RealPage". The Verge. Archived from the original on November 26, 2022. Retrieved November 26, 2022.