RealPage, maker of YieldStar, is almost singlehandedly the ones causing rent to skyrocket across much of the United States.
One of the algorithm’s developers told ProPublica that leasing agents had “too much empathy” compared to computer generated pricing.
You can learn more about them here and why this antitrust case is so important:
https://www.propublica.org/article/yieldstar-rent-increase-realpage-rent
It is collusion. Information like occupancy and operating costs are shared with the software service to determine the “fair” rent rate. The software takes into account these metrics from many different management companies. If rental management companies were to share this info with eachother directly in order to set pricing, that would constitute an antitrust violation. All the software does is turn the trust into a shell game that’s more difficult to prosecute.