• conciselyverbose@sh.itjust.works
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    1 month ago

    The lawsuits also argue that RealPage pressures landlords to comply with its pricing suggestions—something that would make no sense if the company were merely being paid to offer individualized advice. In an interview with ProPublica, Jeffrey Roper, who helped develop one of RealPage’s main software tools, acknowledged that one of the greatest threats to a landlord’s profits is when nearby properties set prices too low. “If you have idiots undervaluing, it costs the whole system,” he said. RealPage thus makes it hard for customers to override its recommendations, according to the lawsuits, allegedly even requiring a written justification and explicit approval from RealPage staff. Former employees have said that failure to comply with the company’s recommendations could result in clients being kicked off the service

    Holy shit that’s blatantly cartel pricing.

  • Zarxrax@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    Headline talks about AI, article talks about algorithms. Chasing that click bait I see.

    • Praise Idleness@sh.itjust.works
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      1 month ago

      In their defence 99% of the population don’t know the difference and no real meaning is lost because AI just means scary machine stuff to them.

    • RagingHungryPanda@lemm.ee
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      1 month ago

      a lot of AI is really just fancy statistics stuff. Years and years ago, I was doing an introductory lesson on some AI tools and the example given was predicting the price of rent or the price of a house. There’s likely a mixture of the statistics part to predict and the algorithmic part to increase the amount and see if people bite.

      It turns out, most will when everyone is using it bc being homeless kinda sucks.

  • Djtecha@lemm.ee
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    1 month ago

    The issue here is when they get sued into oblivion it doesn’t matter. The damage has been done and the state never goes after their personal riches. Wake me up when the ceo goes to jail or has all their property seized.

  • scarabic@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    Competition is supposed to help lower prices. If one tennis racket manufacturer overcharges, then another can charge less and steal all their sales.

    But if landlord #1 owns an house and overcharges while landlord #2 owns a house and does not, it’s not like landlord #2 gets all the tenants. They still just have one house. There is no way for one of them to win by benefitting tenants. They can however both win by both hurting tenants.

    I guess where there is too much housing, one apartment building can keep full occupancy by charging less, while another building across the street might have 60% occupancy because they overcharge. But rarely is there too much supply anymore. And rarely are there such head-to-head commoditized situations.

    • Gsus4@mander.xyz
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      1 month ago

      Housing is often a market failure, because construction does not respond dynamically to house prices due to some regulations and nimbys.

    • technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      1 month ago

      The insanely unjust asymmetry of the “housing market” is why landlords exist in the first place.

      It’s very easy to gouge people if you violently control their basic needs for survival.

  • Sanctus@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    I wonder what happens when enough people can’t afford this cartel pricing? History shows that when society prevents people from living comfortably they prefer to harm society than participate in it. Maybe the bread and circuses will hold this time for sure.

    • Warp10Lizard@startrek.website
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      1 month ago

      Between grocery prices and 12 different streaming services who keep upping their prices, we’re getting gouged on the bread and circuses too.

    • technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      1 month ago

      It’s no mystery and it’s been happening forever… Attacks on the homeless, imprisonment, gated compounds, etc.