Bay Area renters, brace yourselves for some serious digital drama that’s about to blow your mind.

RealPage, a tech company from Texas, has been playing puppet master with your rental prices, and local governments are finally catching on. San Francisco and Berkeley have started fighting back against these algorithmic rent-setting shenanigans that are keeping housing costs sky-high.

The Algorithm Apocalypse

Imagine a world where computer software decides how much you’ll pay in rent, using secret data from your neighboring buildings. Sounds like a dystopian nightmare, right? Well, welcome to the Bay Area housing market. RealPage and similar companies have been using “revenue management solutions” - tech bro speak for price-fixing algorithms - to coordinate rental prices across entire neighborhoods.

David vs. Goliath: Cities Fighting Back

San Francisco made history by being the first city to ban these rent-setting algorithms, with Berkeley quickly following suit. But corporate giants aren’t going down without a fight. RealPage has already sued Berkeley, forcing the city to postpone its ordinance due to budget constraints.

The Legal Battlefield

The battle isn’t just local. The U.S. Department of Justice and multiple state attorneys general are now investigating RealPage for potential antitrust violations. California is even considering a statewide ban on these algorithmic pricing tools.

The message is clear: tech might be cool, but not when it’s squeezing every last penny out of struggling renters. Stay woke, Bay Area.