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Public commentator urges local attention to RealPage pricing tools and BILT credit reporting risks
Summary
A resident warned the board about landlord software company RealPage's pricing tools and the BILT service's attempt to add rental payment history to credit reporting, suggesting local ordinances could be a remedy alongside federal and state litigation.
A public speaker identified in the record as C. Bracco told the board the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit last August against RealPage, a firm that provides dynamic pricing tools to multifamily managers, and that multiple states have joined related actions.
"Irvine controls 75 to 80% of the multifamily inventory and they can reprice multiple times a day," the speaker said as a model for RealPage's pricing power; the speaker said RealPage extends that capability broadly through management-company contracts. The speaker warned RealPage's market share can enable broad rent-repricing in smaller markets and urged local officials to consider ordinances in parallel with state and federal enforcement.
On a separate but related point, the speaker warned against BILT and similar programs that seek to add rental receivables to credit reports through voluntary, points-based signups. The speaker said that practice would replicate past problems when health-care receivables entered credit reporting and urged local officials to coordinate with other cities considering ordinances.
The speaker noted the DOJ lawsuit and additional state actions but did not propose a specific county ordinance language. No county staff responded with a formal plan at the meeting; the speaker urged the board to coordinate with cities pursuing ordinances to limit RealPage's market effects and to protect renters' credit privacy in relation to BILT-like programs.
