The Tool Desk
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What is Washington’s lawsuit against RealPage about?
On April 3, 2025, the Washington Attorney General filed a case in King County Superior Court against RealPage and nine local landlords. The complaint alleges that the defendants used rental-pricing software to conspire to raise or stabilize rents, reduce occupancy, align pricing strategies and exchange nonpublic competitive information. Those are the state’s allegations, not findings by a court. Washington Attorney General’s announcement and the case page describe the action.
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The Attorney General’s Office estimated that 800,000 Washington leases were priced using RealPage software between 2017 and 2024. That is the office’s estimate; it is not an independently verified count, and the use of software to price a lease does not by itself establish wrongdoing. The state’s announcement provides the figure.
What happened in court?
The Attorney General’s case page reports that four motions to dismiss were denied in February 2026. Denying motions to dismiss lets the claims proceed; it does not decide whether the defendants are liable or prove the complaint’s allegations. See the case page and its procedural update.
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What did SB 5469 propose?
SB 5469 was titled “Prohibiting algorithmic rent fixing and noncompete agreements in the rental housing market.” Its substitute bill proposed rules aimed at coordination through services that gather rental information from multiple landlords or public and private databases and use software or an algorithm to recommend rents, renewal terms or occupancy to more than one landlord. The covered information would include current, historical or anticipated rent, price changes, supply, occupancy, and lease-end or renewal dates. The substitute bill text sets out the proposed definitions.
The proposal included an exception for publishing rental-price estimates based solely on public information, if those estimates were equally available to everyone and required no contract, agreement or license.
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What conduct would the substitute bill prohibit?
- A landlord could not obtain coordinating services in exchange for value.
- A service provider could not coordinate two or more landlords.
- Violations would be treated as unfair or deceptive conduct under Washington’s Consumer Protection Act. The proposal would authorize the Attorney General to enforce the chapter and allow injured people to bring a civil action for damages under that act.
These were provisions of a proposed bill, not restrictions currently in force. The substitute text describes the proposed prohibitions and enforcement mechanisms.
Is SB 5469 law yet?
No. The official bill history reviewed does not show enactment. In 2025, the Senate passed the substitute bill 29–19 on March 12. It then advanced through the House Housing Committee, was referred to Appropriations and, on April 27, returned to the Senate Rules Committee for third reading. In the 2026 regular session, it was reintroduced on January 12 and retained in its present status; the bill page says it was in the Senate Rules “X” file. The listed sponsors include Senator Jesse Salomon and other senators. Check the official bill history for its legislative record.
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Committee testimony included both support and criticism: supporters argued the bill addressed price coordination, while opponents said it went too far. Those are stakeholder positions, not factual findings. The committee record contains the testimony.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How are the lawsuit and bill different?
| Question | Attorney General’s lawsuit | SB 5469 |
|---|---|---|
| What is it? | A case-specific enforcement action under existing law, filed against RealPage and nine landlords. | A proposed statutory framework restricting specified forms of algorithmic coordination in rental housing. |
| What must be established? | The allegations must be tested in court; the reported denial of motions to dismiss is not a liability finding. | The proposal would need to become law before its proposed prohibitions applied. |
| Status in the official records reviewed | The case is proceeding after four motions to dismiss were denied in February 2026. | Not enacted; the 2026 history says it remained in Senate Rules. |
The two actions address related concerns but are not interchangeable: the lawsuit concerns alleged conduct by named defendants, while the bill proposed rules for covered practices more broadly. The bill’s existence does not prove the lawsuit’s allegations.
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