Rent going up? One company’s algorithm could be why [Ars Technica]

YieldStar helps landlords set prices across the US, likely harming competition.

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On a summer day last year, a group of real estate tech executives gathered at a conference hall in Nashville to boast about one of their company’s signature products: software that uses a mysterious algorithm to help landlords push the highest possible rents on tenants.

“Never before have we seen these numbers,” said Jay Parsons, a vice president of RealPage, as conventiongoers wandered by. Apartment rents had recently shot up by as much as 14.5 percent, he said in a video touting the company’s services. Turning to his colleague, Parsons asked: What role had the software played?

Biz & IT,Policy,AI,algorithms,antitrust,rent control,syndication

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