\n<\/p>\n
RealPage, the algorithmic rent-setting software company, has announced plans<\/a> to acquire Livble, a service that lets people pay their monthly rent in installments.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Livble describes itself as a \u201cflexible\u201d rent payment solution. Renters can split payments into up to four installments throughout the month. The service bills itself as helping tenants \u201cavoid late fees and credit card fees\u201d as well as \u201cbuild credit through rent,\u201d but it charges $30 to $40 per loan. RealPage didn\u2019t disclose the terms of the deal.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Under the deal, RealPage will integrate Livble into its property management software and will handle \u201call collections.\u201d Last year, the US Department of Justice and several states sued RealPage over claims<\/a> that it monopolized the market for commercial revenue management software used to set the price of apartments. The lawsuit alleges RealPage used nonpublic rental prices from competing landlords to inform its algorithm, which provides rental price recommendations for property owners.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n George Slover, senior counsel for competition and policy at the Center for Democracy and Technology, calls RealPage\u2019s latest acquisition a \u201cbold move\u201d given its existing antitrust battle. \u201cI think it\u2019s going to have to be reviewed by the Justice Department,\u201d Slover told The Verge<\/em>. \u201cIt\u2019s really a question of whether they\u2019re buying a potential competitor.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n In May, Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Bernie Sanders (D-VT), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and others asked RealPage whether<\/a> it had \u201cpotential involvement\u201d in Republicans\u2019 now-scrapped AI moratorium<\/a>. They argued that RealPage would\u2019ve benefited from a 10-year ban preventing states from regulating algorithms, as several local governments<\/a> have already enacted laws regulating rent-setting software.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n