Proposed class-action lawsuit accuses companies of price-fixing rents in Canada
CBC
A proposed class-action lawsuit alleges more than a dozen landlords and property managers have conspired to artificially inflate rents across Canada.
The suit claims landlords and property managers did it by using software called YieldStar.
The move comes after the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a similar lawsuit in August against RealPage Inc., the Texas-based company that created YieldStar.
The Canadian suit alleges the software essentially allows landlords and property managers to share proprietary data on their rental pricing — information that wouldn't normally be shared with competitors — and that this could potentially allow companies to fix prices.
"It is important to note that all of this still needs to be proven in court," Adam Tanel, the main litigator on the Canadian case, told CBC's The National. "But if these allegations are proven in court, it is absolutely horrendous behaviour."
RealPage, which is also named in the proposed Canadian suit, has told CBC its software is designed to be "legally compliant" and that it will "vigorously defend itself" in court.
In response to the proposed suit, the company told CBC in an email that "RealPage revenue management software has never served more than 1% of the rental market in Canada."
RealPage has not responded to specific questions about how many Canadian companies or rental units have been affected by its software.
The proposed class action is seeking financial compensation for any current and past tenants who have lived in any of the properties owned or operated by the 14 companies named, going back to 2009. The allegation is they may have overpaid rent as part of this scheme.
This issued claim is the first step before a class action is certified in court, which Tanel says is still months away.
CBC found evidence YieldStar has been used in Canada since at least 2017.
The 15 companies named in the proposed suit are:
CBC has reached out to the companies named in the suit, but has not heard back from all of them.
During a CBC investigation in October into the use of YieldStar in Canada, GWL Realty Advisors — a division of Canada Life — said they had used the software but that "after an internal review" decided to "terminate the use of YieldStar."
