Department of Justice Opens Criminal Investigation Into “Housing Cartel”

Department of Justice Opens Criminal Investigation Into “Housing Cartel”

Author: Strong Towns April 24, 2024 Duration: 56:42
The U.S. Department of Justice is opening a criminal investigation into a major software company called RealPage, which is described in the lawsuit as the “big tech” company of rental housing. It provides software that is used by landlords (and, typically, landlords who are large holders of rental property) to estimate supply and demand for their listings in order to help them maximize rents. The question is whether or not RealPage is facilitating algorithmic price fixing for some of the largest residential property owners and management firms—amounting to what DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb has described as a “housing cartel.” And since Strong Towns has just released Escaping the Housing Trap: The Strong Towns Response to the Housing Crisis, we figured there was no better time to discuss this story than now. ADDITIONAL SHOW NOTES Order your copy of Escaping the Housing Trap: The Strong Towns Response to the Housing Crisis today! “DOJ escalates price-fixing probe on housing market,” by Josh Sisco, Politico (March 2024). Abby Newsham (X/Twitter). Chuck Marohn (X/Twitter). Theme Music by Kemet the Phantom.

Each week, Upzoned takes a single, pressing story from the world of urban development, municipal policy, and community economics and holds it up to the light. Hosts Abby Kinney and Chuck Marohn of Strong Towns, sometimes joined by a guest, don't just skim the headlines. They dig into the nuances of a specific zoning decision, a new infrastructure project, or a shifting demographic trend, asking what it reveals about how we actually build our cities, towns, and neighborhoods. The conversation is grounded in the practical, bottom-up philosophy of the Strong Towns movement, making complex topics accessible and immediately relevant. This isn't a broad news recap; it's a focused, thoughtful dissection for anyone curious about why their community looks and functions the way it does. You'll hear informed debate, critical analysis, and a persistent questioning of conventional wisdom, all aimed at understanding how we can create places that are financially resilient and genuinely enriching for the people who live in them. Tune in for a deeper, more substantive take on the stories that shape our shared spaces.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Upzoned
Podcast Episodes
Are Sponge Cities the Flood Control Fix We Need? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 40:12
Join Abby and guest John Pattison as they dive into the benefits and drawbacks of "sponge cities," cities that incorporate natural features like wetlands into their stormwater management infrastructure. Is this method mo…
Why Data Center Electricity Use "Scares Me to the Bone" [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:33
Data centers power everything from cloud computing to artificial intelligence, and they use a massive amount of electricity, sometimes even rivaling major cities. Watchdogs claim that tech companies aren’t absorbing the…
Why Colorado Is Facing a Senior Housing Crisis [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:30
Colorado's population is rapidly aging. Soon, one in five people in the state will be be over 65 years old. Limited housing stock means seniors are stuck in too-large homes that they can’t afford to maintain. In turn, th…
Why LA Is Struggling To Rebuild 6 Months After Wildfires [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 43:08
In January 2025, wildfires swept across Los Angeles with record-breaking destruction. To encourage swift rebuilding, Governor Newsom suspended environmental regulations. But six months later, only a fraction of homeowner…
Want To Use This Rural Road? That’ll Be $50K [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 50:20
In Lincoln County, South Dakota, a growing agriculture company is being charged $50,000 annually for wear and tear on township roads caused by the company's trucks and machinery. Abby and Edward discuss the balancing act…
Suburbs Broke the American Sunbelt. Now What? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 53:40
Sunbelt cities like Phoenix, Dallas, and Atlanta have long prided themselves on having affordable and abundant housing. However, they’re now seeing stagnation in housing construction and rapidly rising costs. Today, Abby…
How To Stop Slumlords and Protect Urban Spaces [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:01:43
Today, Abby is joined by Bernice Radle, a small-scale developer and historic building preservationist from Buffalo, New York. They cover two developing stories: First, a new bill was proposed that would give the Buffalo…
A Strong Towns View of the New SpaceX Company Town [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 43:36
Residents of Boca Chica, Texas, have voted to turn their community into a new official city called Starbase. This new municipality is tightly controlled by SpaceX leadership and most residents are SpaceX employees, which…
California Universities Face a $17 Billion Growth Ponzi Scheme [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 55:57
As of the 2023-24 academic year, the University of California faces $9.1 billion in deferred maintenance, while California State University faces $8.3 billion. In today’s episode, Chuck and Abby explore how this problem…
Will Privatizing Mortgages Fix the Housing Market? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 58:37
President Trump has proposed the privatization of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, organizations that back the majority of mortgages in the U.S. and have been under a government conservatorship since the 2008 financial crisis…