Real estate · Industry brief

A wave of litigation is emerging against multifamily housing landlords under new state and local laws restricting algorithmic rent-pricing tools. Following federal and private litigation against RealPage and Yardi, municipalities including San Francisco, San Diego, Seattle, Philadelphia, and Providence have enacted ordinances prohibiting the use of algorithms that share or recommend rents using nonpublic competitor data. Recent cases filed in July and August 2026—including Gomez v. Greystar (Northern District of California), Keller v. UDR (Southern District of California), Nicolas v. Essex Management (Western District of Washington), and Liu v. Willow Bridge (Philadelphia)—demonstrate a coordinated follow-on litigation strategy leveraging the factual record from RealPage litigation. These municipal laws authorize private tenant actions with statutory damages ranging from $1,000 to $7,500 per violation, with each affected unit and month potentially constituting separate violations, creating substantially higher exposure than traditional antitrust claims. At least 13 jurisdictions have enacted prohibitions, with additional regulations pending in Montgomery County, Maryland; Evanston, Illinois; and Rhode Island. Property owners and managers face critical compliance challenges because many ordinances treat prohibited functionality retroactively and define violations per unit per month, making the dates of software modifications and data source changes essential to litigation defense and liability assessment.

According to PwC's June 2026 US Deals Midyear Outlook, US M&A deal value reached $1.2 trillion during the first five months of 2026, nearly double the $603 billion recorded during the same period in 2025, despite deal volume declining by 4%. The article addresses working capital adjustments in M&A transactions, a key mechanism used to reconcile purchase price based on the actual level of short-term operating assets and liabilities at closing. Disputes commonly arise when buyers and sellers disagree over accounting methodologies for balance sheet items such as reserves for doubtful accounts, obsolete inventory, and accrued liabilities, making early financial due diligence and clearly defined accounting principles critical to preventing post-closing disputes and ensuring the final adjustment reflects the economic intent of the transaction.

HOAs Ramping Up Foreclosures Against Delinquent Homeowners (August 20, 2026, MortgagePoint). Multifamily Giants AvalonBay, Equity Residential Complete Their Merger (August 19, 2026, MortgagePoint). Q2 Mortgage Delinquencies Experience Downward Trend (August 17, 2026, MortgagePoint).