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Incident 894: RealPage's YieldStar Allegedly Facilitated Rent Price Coordination Among Canadian Landlords

Description: RealPage’s YieldStar algorithm is alleged to have enabled Canadian landlords to coordinate rental pricing by utilizing sensitive, non-public market data. The software has been accused of contributing to rent increases in non-rent-controlled units through purported collusion and artificial price inflation. Tenants have reported significant rent hikes, which they attribute to landlords' use of the algorithm.
Editor Notes: See also: Incident 376: RealPage Algorithm Allegedly Inflates Rents and Reduces Competition in Housing Market. This incident (894) focuses on allegations of the YieldStar algorithm in the Canadian rental market. These two incident narratives are closely related. A note on the incident date: 01/01/2017 is an approximate placeholder based on the GWL Realty Advisors 2017 Annual Review (published on June 11, 2018), in which they state, "In 2017, an important accomplishment and offshoot of [the project of 'streamlining our administrative processes and leveraging technology'] was the implementation of YieldStar, a revenue management platform" (page 22). The report can be accessed at the following URL: https://www.gwlrealtyadvisors.com/post_news/our-2017-annual-review-is-now-available/. Some other timeline notes from reporting on this incident: (1) 2022: Cynthia Black, a tenant in Toronto, reported significant rent increases attributed to YieldStar in Livmore buildings. (2) June 2024: The FBI announced an investigation into YieldStar and RealPage in the U.S., citing price-fixing and collusion allegations. (3) August 2024: The U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against RealPage and landlords using YieldStar for antitrust violations. (4) October 2024: GWL Realty Advisors reportedly conducted an internal review and terminated YieldStar use in response to these allegations. (5) November 2024: The Canadian Innovation Minister, François-Philippe Champagne, called for a Competition Bureau investigation into YieldStar’s role in Canadian rental markets.

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Alleged: RealPage developed an AI system deployed by Woodbourne Capital Management International LP , Tribute Communities , The Rockport Group , TAS Impact , RioCan Living , Rhapsody Property Management Services LLP , GWL Realty Advisors Residential Inc. , First Capital Real Estate Investment Trust , EDGAR Development Corp. , Dream Unlimited Corp. , Core Development Group Ltd. , Choice Properties Real Estate Investment Trust and Canadian property managers using YieldStar, which harmed Tenants in Canada , Renters in Canada , Public trust in the rental market , Low-income tenants in Canada and Cynthia Black.
Alleged implicated AI system: YieldStar

Incident Stats

Incident ID
894
Report Count
7
Incident Date
2017-01-01
Editors
Daniel Atherton

Incident Reports

Reports Timeline

Incident OccurrenceCanadian mega landlord using AI ‘pricing scheme’ as it massively hikes rents+5
Are some rents in Canada part of a price-fixing scheme? | CBC News
Canadian mega landlord using AI ‘pricing scheme’ as it massively hikes rents

Canadian mega landlord using AI ‘pricing scheme’ as it massively hikes rents

breachmedia.ca

Are some rents in Canada part of a price-fixing scheme? | CBC News

Are some rents in Canada part of a price-fixing scheme? | CBC News

cbc.ca

What is YieldStar, the controversial pricing software some blame for rising rents?

What is YieldStar, the controversial pricing software some blame for rising rents?

financialpost.com

Competition Bureau investigating high tech price-fixing by Canadian landlords

Competition Bureau investigating high tech price-fixing by Canadian landlords

breachmedia.ca

Canada investigates 'Rent Cartel' allegations

Canada investigates 'Rent Cartel' allegations

mpamag.com

Canadian renters file lawsuit against landlords using price-fixing software

Canadian renters file lawsuit against landlords using price-fixing software

mpamag.com

Proposed class-action lawsuit alleges rental price-fixing by companies using YieldStar software

Proposed class-action lawsuit alleges rental price-fixing by companies using YieldStar software

financialpost.com

Canadian mega landlord using AI ‘pricing scheme’ as it massively hikes rents
breachmedia.ca · 2024

When Shanice Sharpe moved into a one-bedroom apartment at 22 John St., in the working-class neighbourhood of Weston in the Greater Toronto Area, her rent seemed reasonable.

But since 2022, it has shot up nearly 10 per cent each year and she…

Are some rents in Canada part of a price-fixing scheme? | CBC News
cbc.ca · 2024

Cynthia Black believes her rent has been rigged.

Since 2022, the Toronto resident says she has twice faced annual rent increases of either seven or 11 per cent — depending on the lease type her household was offered — in two Livmore buildin…

What is YieldStar, the controversial pricing software some blame for rising rents?
financialpost.com · 2024

Canadian officials are concerned about YieldStar, a controversial software that recommends rent prices to landlords that is currently the subject of a government lawsuit in the United States.

In October, Canadian federal Minister of Innovat…

Competition Bureau investigating high tech price-fixing by Canadian landlords
breachmedia.ca · 2024

Since early September, Canada’s corporate law enforcement agency has been investigating landlords over high-tech rental price-fixing, The Breach has learned.

The investigation by the Competition Bureau was sparked by an article published in…

Canada investigates 'Rent Cartel' allegations
mpamag.com · 2024

The Competition Bureau of Canada has opened an investigation into allegations of price-fixing by major corporate landlords using artificial intelligence software.

The probe, initiated after reports by independent media outlet The Breach, fo…

Canadian renters file lawsuit against landlords using price-fixing software
mpamag.com · 2024

A proposed class-action lawsuit in Canada accuses 15 landlords and property managers of colluding to inflate rental prices through a controversial software system.

The claim alleges that RealPage Inc.'s YieldStar program facilitated rent pr…

Proposed class-action lawsuit alleges rental price-fixing by companies using YieldStar software
financialpost.com · 2024

A new proposed class-action lawsuit alleges multiple landlords and property managers “conspired” to control rents across Canada using an algorithmic software called YieldStar. This follows Canadian politicians’ concern about the practice, a…

Variants

A "variant" is an incident that shares the same causative factors, produces similar harms, and involves the same intelligent systems as a known AI incident. Rather than index variants as entirely separate incidents, we list variations of incidents under the first similar incident submitted to the database. Unlike other submission types to the incident database, variants are not required to have reporting in evidence external to the Incident Database. Learn more from the research paper.

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By textual similarity

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