Rent monopoly crackdown continues as FBI raids corporate landlord for 18 Arizona properties
Rent monopoly crackdown continues as FBI raids corporate landlord for 18 Arizona properties
The federal investigation runs parallel to a price-fixing lawsuit by the Arizona Attorney General against 400 other apartment complexes in the state.
Federal agents raided a property management company operating in Arizona as part of an investigation into price-fixing rent, marking a distinct escalation in the renewed push to enforce consumer protection laws.
Cortland, an Atlanta-based property management company, joins nine other real estate conglomerates under investigation for creating a rental monopoly, resulting in rents across Arizona going up by more than 30% since 2022. The common thread between the 10 is RealPages, a co-defendant and consulting firm whose software they utilized to determine the maximum amount rent could be raised, then doing so in tandem in a manner Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes has characterized as monopolistic.
“The conspiracy allegedly engaged in by RealPage and these landlords has harmed Arizonans and directly contributed to Arizona’s affordable housing crisis,” said Mayes. “This conspiracy stifled fair competition and essentially established a rental monopoly in our state’s two largest metro areas.”
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We can probably thank Lina Khan, chair of FTC for this. It's amazing to finally have someone back in the FTC that cares about protecting consumers.
I wonder who appointed her and then who voted to confirm her appointment.
"President Joe Biden elevated Amazon critic and anti-monopoly advocate Lina Khan to chair the Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday, hours after the Senate confirmed her by a 69-28 vote.
She was sworn in just as quickly, the FTC said that evening."
That sounds like someone who I want to vote for.