Unfair Park from p4 those deaths occurred as people were trying to cross unmarked crosswalks. Yet, when it came to providing evidence that pedestrians standing on medians had anything to do with fatalities, Khankarli de- ferred to DPD. “We don’t have supporting information, nor is it documented anywhere in our infor- mation that any driver inattention or dis- traction was caused by subjects on the medians,” DPD Assistant Chief Michael Igo said. The Dallas City Council approved the an- nual review of the ordinance, so in a year’s time we may have some idea of how effec- tive it is. Krista Nightengale, executive director of The Better Block, a local nonprofit focused on urban design, said medians are supposed to be used by pedestrians, and they’re meant to make them safer. “Medians are there so that folks can take a second to kind of look around and have a little protection to ensure they’re OK when they’re crossing,” Nightingale said. “Our Dallas streets are incredibly wide. We have some really ridiculous intersections and on some of these, the timing isn’t right with the countdowns, and there are times that you can’t get across an entire span of road in that one countdown.” That’s where the medians come in handy. Nightengale added that it’s not unlikely the city will end up in legal hot water over the ordinance. “I don’t fully understand how they think that this won’t lead to a lawsuit because this is exactly how Oklahoma City tried to do it,” she said. Instead of enforcing an ordinance that may get Dallas sued, Nightengale suggested other ways the city can make pedestrians safer, like expanding the medians and ensur- ing all crosswalks are marked. ▼ ELECTIONS W IT’S COMPARABLY PRETTY TOUGH TO CAST A BALLOT IN THE LONE STAR STATE. BY PATRICK STRICKLAND BALLOT BOX BLOCKED hen it comes to ease of voting, Texas clocks in at No. 46 of all the states nationwide, according to a new study. Published in the Election Law Journal, an academic journal, the study found that only that only four other states made it more dif- ficult than Texas does to cast a ballot. Dubbed the “Cost of Voting Index 2022,” that study says the states that outdid Texas when it comes to voting restrictions are Ar- kansas, Mississippi, New Hampshire and Wisconsin. Since the November 2020 presidential elections, most states around the country have introduced and passed a slew of laws related to voting. While many states have passed legisla- 6 6 tion that makes it easier to vote, Texas is one of 11 that introduced laws last year that only make it yet more difficult, according to the Election Law Journal study. (Eight other states passed bills that introduced both re- strictions and eased access to voting in cer- tain cases.) Tuomas Lehtinen/Getty Images Party’s director of voter protection, told the Observer by email. But the Cost of Voting Index 2022 said SB 1 has yet to make much of an impact, and Texas dropped only one slot from 2020, when it was ranked No. 45. (The study con- ceded that Texas “did not have a lot of room to fall.”) “Specifically, the state banned practices that made it easier to vote in 2020 in re- sponse to the global pandemic, such as drive-thru voting and 24-hour voting,” the study explains. “However, as best as we can tell, there was no intention to make the 2020 provi- sions permanent, so banning them is curi- ous,” it adds. “Importantly, the changes will limit the state’s ability to respond to another health crisis. Moreover, voting still is not easy in Texas.” In the study, Texas fared better than Ar- kansas, Mississippi, New Hampshire and Wisconsin “because it provides citizens a full 13 days of early voting.” Midterm elections take place on Nov. 8, and early voting will last until Nov. 4. Ac- cording to the Secretary of State’s Office, voters will make their picks for governor, A Richardson company denies accusations in a lawsuit alleging it helps landlords collude on rent prices. who use RealPage’s services. Part of what the renters hope to get out of the suit is a rul- ing that could prohibit some of RealPage’s business practices, which they claim are ille- gal. The lawsuit was filed by the San Diego law firm Berger Montague PC. As detailed in the suit and a recent in- vestigation by ProPublica, RealPage uses an algorithm to help landlords increase rents to their maximum profitability. It collects information on pricing and supply levels to recommend daily prices for vacant units. The company’s services have attracted some big customers across the U.S., includ- ing Dallas’ Lincoln Property Company, which is named in the suit. The lawsuit explains that until 2016, the largest landlords in the U.S. would price their units to be competitive with others in the area and to keep apartments full. Then, many agreed to use RealPage’s services to do the task and use its price recommendations, with the expectation that competitors would do the same. Ahead of the 2021 legislative session, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott made what he called “election integrity” an emergency item. Among the restrictive bills the governor signed into law was Senate Bill 1, which sparked condemnation from advocacy groups and watchdogs who said it would ef- fectively lead to voter suppression. In the past, Abbott defended new voting laws against criticism, even claiming in a press release that SB 1 “ensures trust and confidence in our elections system — and most importantly, it makes it easier to vote and harder to cheat.” In a recent analysis of primary voting data from March, the Brennan Center for Justice said SB 1, which limited how and when someone can apply for a mail-in ballot or vote by mail, had led to widespread “ra- cial disparities” at the ballot box. “You didn’t need a crystal ball to know that widespread disenfranchisement of Tex- ans of color would result as a consequence of SB 1,” Rose Clouston, Texas Democratic lieutenant governor, attorney general, all 38 U.S. representatives, state senators and 150 state representatives, among others. ▼ HOUSING IT’S GETTING REAL R A FEDERAL LAWSUIT CLAIMS THE RICHARDSON-BASED REALPAGE HELPED INFLATE RENTS. BY JACOB VAUGHN enters have filed a federal lawsuit against the Richardson-based soft- ware company RealPage, alleging its services have artificially increased rent prices. Specifically, the suit alleges the company is violating the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890, which prohibits actions that restrict interstate commerce and competition in the marketplace. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of California on behalf of renters who live in multifamily properties owned by landlords When that happened, according to the lawsuit, landlords “replaced their indepen- dent pricing and supply decisions with col- lusion.” The companies using the service can de- cline the recommended prices, but that hap- pens only about 10% of the time. The suit claims RealPage stresses the need for disci- pline among its landlords and encourages its customers to accept the recommended pric- ing. It does so by telling them the services are most effective when landlords accept pricing at least 80% of the time. RealPage’s services also permit landlords to coordinate supply levels to avoid competition on pricing, according to the lawsuit. When housing supply exceeds demand in competi- tive markets, prices in that market can fall as landlords compete to attract renters. To avoid this, the lawsuit claims, RealPage provides landlords with information that allows them to stagger lease renewals to avoid oversupply. This led to landlords leaving units unoc- cupied for periods of time “to ensure that, collectively, there is not one period in which the market faces an oversupply of residen- tial real estate properties for lease, keeping prices higher,” according to the suit. The result of such practices, the lawsuit claims, is similar to what would occur under a monopoly. According to the suit, “One Les- sor said that the net effect of raising rents and ‘pushing people out’ of the residential real estate leases they could no longer af- ford, was ‘10 million in income.’” The suit seems to have been prompted by the findings in a 5,000-plus word investiga- tion into RealPage published by ProPublica earlier this month. It documented how Real- Page’s algorithm, YieldStar, which is respon- sible for tracking and recommending prices, could artificially inflate rents. The article included references from Re- alPage’s own promotional material and statements that seem to suggest it knows it has an effect on rent prices and what that ef- fect is. In one video, RealPage Vice President Jay Parsons noted that rents had shot up by some 14.5%, asking another RealPage execu- tive how the company’s services may have contributed to the increase. “I think it’s driving it, quite honestly,” An- drew Bowen, the executive responded. “As a property manager, very few of us would be willing to actually raise rents double digits within a single month by doing it manually.” But if you asked RealPage, or one of its clients like Lincoln Property Co., their rep- resentatives would likely say there’s nothing to see here, they’re not doing anything wrong and that the whole situation has been taken out of context. In a short emailed statement, Lincoln Property denied the allegations of the lawsuit, saying it “looks forward to the opportunity to bring the facts to the attention of the court.” In an email to the Observer, RealPage said the ProPublica article “contains inaccuracies and is misleading; RealPage completely dis- agrees with its conclusions.” The company said rents are determined by a number of factors, including supply and de- mand and property owners’ unique circum- stances. RealPage added that the current housing supply shortage has contributed to high rents, and occupancy rates have been at an all-time high. >> p8 MONTH XX–MONTH XX, 2014 NOVEMBER 3–9, 2022 DALLAS OBSERVER DALLAS OBSERVER | CLASSIFIED | MUSIC | DISH | MOVIES | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | FEATURE | SCHUTZE | UNFAIR PARK | CONTENTS | CLASSIFIED | MUSIC | DISH | CULTURE | UNFAIR PARK | CONTENTS dallasobserver.com dallasobserver.com
