OPINION — Arizona’s Attorney General Kris Mayes recently secured a major early win in her rental‑price‑fixing lawsuit, and she needed it. The case alleges that RealPage’s algorithm helped coordinate rent hikes across the state, and the first settlement marks a national precedent: software‑driven pricing is not immune from antitrust scrutiny. For renters who have watched prices climb far faster than wages, this is a meaningful step toward accountability.
But even if every landlord stopped using the software tomorrow, Arizona’s housing market would remain fundamentally distorted. The state is finally taking action against rent‑setting behavior, yet it has done almost nothing to address the ownership structure that has quietly reshaped the market into something hostile to the very people who live here.
The RealPage settlement is a win, but it doesn’t touch the deeper shift: the transfer of Arizona housing from residents to profit‑seeking entities. The lawsuit addresses behavior, not structure.
