RealPage has filed a counterclaim against Yardi, alleging among other things that Yardi engaged in anti-competitive practices and mis-appropriated trade secrets. This latest round of litigation among property services giants seems to be getting more complex with each individual filing. There are some allegations that a former chief information officer took certain intellectual property secrets with him when he joined Yardi. The game begins…
The property management services business is highly competitive, and with a consolidation coming among owners, at least in the multifamily side, the market share, currently enjoyed overwhelmingly by Yardi is up for dispute if you believe all the charges flying around here. This latest development seems to suggest several important points, primarily acknowledging that some sort of action did take place among RealPage’s senior staff within Yardi’s proprietary computer resources. RealPage maintains that not only did the contact occur in the usual and customary practices of their agreements, but in any event, Yardi was not harmed in any way.
Ad odd acknowledgement on their part that the activity might have caused harm but didn’t perhaps? There are some fundamental issues here that need to be addressed as users of both of these systems are probably now wondering more than ever how safe their information is, according to some users I spoke with. The most frequent comment, RealPage has great marketing and poor delivery, while Yardi has great delivery but confused marketing.
RealPage is looking for damages on lost or canceled contracts, something that I believe is going to be difficult to prove. The real upshot of all of this may become a windfall for the competition, since anyone considering switching systems now will want to wait to see how this plays out. RealPage seems to have lost some momentum here, since the suggestion that a former chief information officer acted inappropriately only surfaced after the Yardi suit was instituted. This kind of distraction probably means a tough year looking ahead for RealPage as customers inevitably delay decisions on their property management platform. The next quarter will tell the tale.
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