Dive Brief:
- Mid-America Apartment Communities has agreed to settle a multidistrict class-action lawsuit related to its use of RealPage’s rent-setting software for $53 million, according to a Monday U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The agreement is still subject to court approval.
- The antitrust suit alleges that Mid-America Apartment Communities Inc. and its subsidiary Mid-America Apartments L.P., along with dozens of the country’s biggest apartment landlords, conspired to artificially inflate multifamily residential rental prices through the use of RealPage’s software.
- In the filing, Germantown, Tennessee-headquartered MAA said it believes the settlement “reduces significant legal uncertainty and risk” associated with complex antitrust litigation. The firm does not admit fault or liability.
Dive Insight:
In late 2022 and early 2023, a slew of class-action lawsuits were filed against RealPage and approximately 50 of the largest apartment owners and operators, alleging that the software provider enabled landlords to collude to raise rent prices beyond free market levels. In April 2023, those cases were centralized in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee in a case called In Re: RealPage, Inc., Rental Software Antitrust Litigation.
For its part, MAA will pay into a settlement fund via two $26.5 million installments beginning no earlier than March 2, 2026, to resolve all claims, per the SEC filing. It also agreed to certain prospective commitments around use and disclosure of nonpublic data and revenue management software, which the firm said align with its existing practices and should not materially alter its operations.
MAA “believes resolving this matter now will allow it to avoid the significant costs and distraction of protracted litigation and maintain focus on executing its business objectives as the Company continues to provide quality housing, exceptional service, and a high-quality resident experience,” the firm said in the SEC filing.
Multifamily Dive reached out to MAA for additional comment but did not hear back by publication time.
The firm said in the filing that it will increase its loss contingency reserve to $62.5 million in its 2025 year-end financials to cover the settlement and to “continue to vigorously defend the District of Columbia and Commonwealth of Kentucky Attorneys’ General antitrust lawsuits.”
The charge will not affect 2025 core funds from operations or funds available for distribution, and MAA does not expect any material impact on liquidity, leverage, credit rating, dividend policy or capital allocation plans.
Relatedly, in November 2025, the U.S. Justice Department and Richardson, Texas-based RealPage reached an agreement to settle a price-fixing lawsuit from 2024. Per RealPage, the settlement boosts confidence for the housing industry and demonstrates that its revenue management software can be used in compliance with the views of federal antitrust enforcers.
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