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☆ Landlords Use a Popular Software Tool to Jack up Apartment, Home Rents
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-10 | by ( James Rodriguez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

Rents soared thanks to a shortage of apartment units, remote workers' desire for more space, and a daunting for-sale market that kept many renters stuck in place. Without RealPage, the plaintiffs argue, landlords would be hesitant to jack up rents; instead, they'd focus on keeping their buildings full. In short, the lawsuits that started with apartment rents could one day change how we pay for everything. By turning over pricing to the algorithm, plaintiffs say, RealPage's clients are encouraged to push rents higher than if they'd left the decisions up to humans. The RealPage cases are about far more than apartment rents.

Persons: RealPage, Kris Mayes, they'll, they'd, —, Zillow, there's, Marie Claire Tran, Leung, Tran, Matt Damon, Maureen Ohlhausen, Bob, Ohlhausen, Ed Rogers, Ballard Spahr, Jeffery Cross, Smith Gambrell Russell, didn't, it'll Organizations: Revenue Management, ProPublica, National Housing Law, FBI, RealPage, Department, Federal Trade Commission, Politico, Washington, Justice Department, FTC Locations: Texas, you've, Phoenix, Tucson, Washington, DC, RealPage, Arizona, Tennessee

☆ Inside the Fight Over Software That Tells Landlords to Hike Your Rent
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-10 | by ( James Rodriguez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

☆ One New Yorker won $150,000 when she found out her landlord had been overcharging her. Now a bunch more tenants are using stabilization laws to get money back and pay cheaper rent.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-28 | by ( Juliana Kaplan | Eliza Relman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

AdvertisementAs TikTok becomes the new town square for all things economic transparency, the latest target of populist ire is New York City landlords. Several videos that have recently gone viral show viewers how to look into their rent histories and call out examples of potentially illegal hikes. Wait times for rent histories are now at 20 business days, up from 10 in late January, as a result of "social media activity." Klenkar has made TikToks about her old apartment and rent histories and has had "lots" of people reach out with their own rent histories. More may be on their way as New Yorkers seem to be requesting their rent histories en masse.

Persons: they've, —, Danielle —, Danielle, TikTok, it's, There's, they're, Allia Mohamed, She's, Mohamed, They've, he's, Carla —, Carla, Thomas Trutschel, Anna Klenkar, Klenkar, I've, Gothamist, DHCR, overcharge, Esteban Girón, shouldn't, It's Organizations: New York, Tenants, Service, Business, BI, Yorkers, New, US, Division, Housing, Community, Rent Administration, Rent, New York State Homes, Community Renewal, Tenant Union, Tenants PAC, Directors Locations: New York State, Cobble Hill, Brooklyn , New York, York City, New York, New York City, New, Washington Heights, Manhattan, Long Island City, Lower, Side, backpay

☆ New Yorkers are flooding a government website to figure out if they're overpaying for rent
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-24 | by ( Eliza Relman | Juliana Kaplan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A spokesperson for DHCR told Business Insider the "surge" in rent history requests is "unprecedented." Mohamed said that since she posted that TikTok, hundreds of people have emailed openigloo asking for help deciphering the rent history information they've received from DHCR. Diana Prendergast, a 27-year-old recording artist who lives in New York, requested her rent history after learning about it from TikTok. She said she's still awaiting her rent history. Did you request your rent history, or discover you were being overcharged?

Persons: —, openigloo, Allia Mohamed, Mohamed, they've, Diana Prendergast, she's, Gothamist Organizations: Service, New York, Homes, Community Renewal, New, DHCR, Business, The Met Council, Housing Locations: New York, DHCR, TikTok, New York City

☆ FirstEnergy Ex-C.E.O. and 2 Others Are Indicted in Bribery Scandal
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-12 | by ( J. Edward Moreno | More About J. Edward Moreno | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Two former executives of FirstEnergy and a former public utility commissioner have been indicted in a multimillion-dollar public corruption scandal, Ohio’s attorney general, Dave Yost, said on Monday. Collectively, the three men are charged with 27 counts, including theft, bribery and fraud. The charges were filed on Friday but weren’t made public until Mr. Yost announced them on Monday. The indictments are the first against FirstEnergy executives in perhaps the biggest public corruption scandal in Ohio’s history, one that has already landed a former lawmaker in prison. State and federal officials have accused the company, an Ohio-based electric utility that serves six million customers, of paying state lawmakers and regulators millions of dollars in exchange for subsidies and other favorable treatment.

Persons: Dave Yost, Charles Jones, Michael Dowling, Samuel Randazzo, weren’t, Yost Organizations: Public Utilities Commission, FirstEnergy Locations: State, Ohio

☆ Mallinckrodt Avoids $40 Million SEC Fine in Medicaid Overcharge Case
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-02 | by ( David Smagalla | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Mallinckrodt didn’t admit or deny the SEC’s findings. Photo: Whitney Curtis/Associated PressThe U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said Mallinckrodt failed to tell investors it had potentially overcharged Medicaid for its flagship drug, but the regulator waived a $40 million civil penalty partly because the pharmaceutical company agreed to hire a compliance consultant. The SEC said in an administrative proceeding Thursday that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services informed Mallinckrodt as early as 2016 that the company was using an incorrect rebate rate for its sales of Acthar Gel, a drug used to treat several rare autoimmune diseases, which meant it was overcharging state Medicaid programs for the drug.

Persons: Mallinckrodt didn’t, Whitney Curtis, Mallinckrodt Organizations: Associated Press, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, SEC, Medicare, Services

The FTC's excerpts say the tool - codenamed “Project Nessie” - has been used by Amazon to pinpoint products that will allow it to rake in more cash. The company used it to predict where it can raise prices and have other shopping sites follow suit. Amazon activated the algorithm to raise prices on some products, and when other sites followed its lead, it kept the elevated prices in place, the agency said. The agency said Amazon deployed Project Nessie in 2014 and has turned it on and off at least eight times between 2015 and 2019. In 2018 alone, Amazon used the algorithm to set prices for items that were viewed more than 400 million times by shoppers, according to the complaint.

Persons: Tim Doyle, ” Doyle, Jason Del Ray, Nessie, Doyle, “ Nessie, Jeff Bezos Organizations: Federal Trade Commission, FTC, Amazon, Wall Street Journal, Nessie

☆ Amazon used an algorithm to secretly prompt rival sites to raise prices, FTC alleges in antitrust lawsuit
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-02 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The FTC says Amazon used a tool to predict where it can raise prices and have rival sites follow suit. The company used it to predict where it can raise prices and have other shopping sites follow suit. Amazon activated the algorithm to raise prices on some products, and when other sites followed its lead, it kept the elevated prices in place, the agency said. The agency said Amazon deployed Project Nessie in 2014 and has turned it on and off at least eight times between 2015 and 2019. In 2018 alone, Amazon used the algorithm to set prices for items that were viewed more than 400 million times by shoppers, according to the complaint.

Persons: —, Tim Doyle, Doyle, Jason Del Ray, Nessie, Jeff Bezos Organizations: Federal Trade Commission, Amazon, FTC, Service, Wall Street Journal, Nessie

TOKYO (AP) — Shares in Asia were mostly higher on Wednesday, shrugging off a sharp decline on Wall Street that took benchmarks back to where they were in June. That pushed the Fed last week to say it will likely cut interest rates by less next year than earlier expected. Besides high interest rates, a long list of other worries is also tugging at Wall Street. On Wall Street, the vast majority of stocks fell Tuesday under such pressures, including 90% of those within the S&P 500. Big Tech stocks tend to be among the hardest hit by high rates, and they were the heaviest weights on the index.

Persons: shrugging, Hui Ka Yan, Australia's, ” Stephen Innes, Brent Organizations: TOKYO, Tokyo's Nikkei, Hang Seng, Bloomberg, Garden Holdings, Dow Jones, Nasdaq, Federal Reserve, Treasury, Fed, U.S, Management, Big Tech, Apple, Microsoft, Federal Trade Commission Locations: Asia, Hong Kong, Shanghai, China, Seoul, Maryland, Carolinas

☆ Amazon is facing a lawsuit from the FTC and 17 US states. They say it's stifling competition and keeping prices high.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-26 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Amazon is facing an antitrust lawsuit from the Federal Trade Commission and 17 states. The suit claims Amazon is leveraging its power to inflate prices and overcharge small sellers. The FTC has been gathering evidence for months to show how Amazon disadvantages sellers. Some of the agency's allegations in the Amazon case mirrors those made in a separate lawsuit last year by the state of California. The federal complaint follows other actions the FTC has taken against Amazon in the past few months.

Persons: —, biasing, Lina Khan, Khan, FTC's Khan Organizations: Federal Trade Commission, FTC, Service, Court, Western, of, Amazon, Institute for Local, Essentials . Booksellers, of Justice, Big Tech, Yale, District of Columbia, Amazon Prime Locations: of Washington, California

The Federal Trade Commission and 17 state attorney generals filed an antitrust lawsuit against Amazon on Tuesday, alleging the e-commerce behemoth uses its position in the marketplace to inflate prices on other platforms, overcharge sellers and stifle competition. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, is the result of a years-long investigation into Amazon’s businesses and one of the most significant legal challenges brought against the company in its nearly 30-year history. Many had wondered whether the agency would seek to a forced break-up of the retail giant, which is also dominant in cloud computing and has a growing presence in other sectors like groceries and health care. In a briefing with reporters, Khan dodged questions of whether that will happen. Political Cartoons View All 1182 Images“At this stage, the focus is more on liability," she said.

Persons: ”, Lina Khan, Khan Organizations: Federal Trade Commission, Amazon, Western, of Locations: U.S, of Washington

The logo of Amazon is seen at the company logistics center in Lauwin-Planque, northern France, February 20, 2017. The FTC said that it was asking the court to issue a permanent injunction ordering Amazon.com to stop its unlawful conduct. Other allegations include that Amazon gave preference to its own products on its platforms over competitors also on the platform. During the Trump administration which ended in 2021, the Justice Department and FTC opened probes into Google, Facebook, Apple and Amazon. The FTC sued Facebook during the Trump administration and Biden's FTC has pressed forward with the lawsuit.

Persons: Pascal, Lina Khan, Khan, Trump, Republican Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Diane Bartz, Chris Sanders, Matthew Lewis, Nick Zieminski Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, U.S . Federal Trade Commission, Amazon.com, Amazon, Alphabet's, Google, Facebook, FTC, The Yale Law, Apple, Big Tech, Republicans, Justice Department, The, Republican, Democratic, Thomson Locations: Lauwin, France, Seattle

Sept 6 (Reuters) - Bristol Myers Squibb (BMY.N) has been accused in a new lawsuit of using fraudulent patents and other illegal tactics to maintain its monopoly on blockbuster blood cancer drug Pomalyst for years after it should have faced generic competition. A spokesperson for Bristol Myers did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Pomalyst is a top seller for Bristol Myers, bringing in nearly $3.5 billion out of $46.16 billion of its total revenue last year. The drug was developed by Celgene, a company acquired by Bristol Myers in 2019. The generic companies, which are also named as defendants in the lawsuit, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Persons: Pomalyst, Bristol Myers, Celgene, Brendan Pierson, Alexia Garamfalvi, Bill Berkrot Organizations: Bristol Myers Squibb, Louisiana, Pomalyst, Bristol, Celgene, U.S . Patent, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Aurobindo Pharma, Breckeridge Pharmaceutical, Natco Pharma, Thomson Locations: Manhattan, New York

Nvidia shares have nearly tripled in value this year, adding more than $700 billion to the company's market valuation and making it the first trillion-dollar chip firm. If Nvidia shows weakness, we could be in for quite a substantial correction in the market." Nvidia has only forecast revenue below estimates once in the past two years. Citi analysts said last week they were only modeling a revenue forecast of around $12 billion, but buy-side expectations have gone up to $14 billion. AMD expects to start shipping the chip in the fourth quarter and could control roughly 10% of the AI chip market next year, analysts said.

Persons: Ann Wang, Inge Heydorn, Heydorn, Piper, Harsh Kumar, doesn't overcharge, Kumar, Chavi Mehta, Aditya Soni, Anil D'Silva Organizations: REUTERS, Nvidia, Big Tech, GP, AMD, Citi, Google, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Taipei, Taiwan, China, Bengaluru

☆ New report shows Ticketmaster controls the vast majority of the live event business, and any promises of 'transparency' just mean they'll overcharge concertgoers more brazenly
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-17 | by ( Madison Hall | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Live Nation Entertainment announced new "transparent" pricing where it will display fees at the beginning of the transaction. While this has been on Biden's agenda for months, he hasn't addressed the grip Live Nation Entertainment has on the entertainment industry. Republican state Sen. Scott Wilk introduced a bill in early 2023 to ban exclusivity contracts in the ticketing industry. Ultimately, she said, it's up to the Department of Justice to investigate and potentially take action on Live Nation Entertainment. According to the New York Times, the DOJ opened an antitrust investigation into Live Nation Entertainment in late 2022.

Persons: hasn't, —, Biden, Krista Brown, Sen, Scott Wilk, Wilk, Brown Organizations: Nation Entertainment, Service, Ticketmaster, American Economic Liberties, Nation, Congress, Entertainment, California's State Senate, Department of Justice, New York Times, DOJ, Live Nation Entertainment Locations: United States, California's

☆ Walmart says it charged Beauty Box subscribers nearly $700 instead of $6.98 due to a 'coding error'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Ben Tobin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Walmart Beauty Box products cost subscribers $6.98 without taxes every three months of the year. On Tuesday, customers took to social media to say that they were charged for 100 boxes, at $698. Some customers took to social media Tuesday to say that Walmart charged them for 100 Beauty Boxes instead of one, a grand total of $698 before taxes. Beyond the refunds, the Bentonville, Arkansas-based retail giant will also be giving customers $100 Walmart gift cards and complimentary spring and summer Beauty Boxes, according to Walmart. Are you a Walmart Beauty Box customer who was overcharged?

☆ Walmart says it charged Beauty Box subscribers for 100 boxes instead of one due to a 'coding error'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Ben Tobin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Walmart Beauty Box products cost subscribers $6.98 without taxes every three months of the year. On Tuesday, customers took to social media to say that they were charged for 100 boxes, at $698. Some customers took to social media Tuesday to say that Walmart charged them for 100 Beauty Boxes instead of one, a grand total of $698 beofre taxes. Beyond the refunds, the Bentonville, Arkansas-based retail giant will also be giving customers $100 Walmart gift cards and complimentary spring and summer Beauty Boxes, according to Walmart. Are you a Walmart Beauty Box customer who was overcharged?

☆ Trump hired Natalee Holloway's suspected killer's lawyer to defend him in E. Jean Carroll defamation case
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Ashley Collman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Trump hired one of the most famous criminal defense attorneys to represent him against E. Jean Carroll. Carroll has accused Trump of sexual battery and defamation. Tacopina told the Post that he has no issues defending accused criminals. I like the high stakes," Tacopina told the Times. Van der Sloot was never tried for Natalee Holloway's murder, but remains the primary suspect in the unsolved case.

The lawsuit, filed in California Superior Court in Los Angeles, targets Eli Lilly and Co , Novo Nordisk A/S (NOVOb.CO) and Sanofi SA (SASY.PA), which together make more than 90% of the insulin drugs sold globally. Insulin drugs are used to control blood sugar in patients with diabetes. Eli Lilly and Sanofi both previously announced that they would cap the cost of a 30-day supply of insulin at $35 for uninsured patients. California said that the companies' dominance in the market has allowed them to hike insulin prices at patients' expense, violating the state's Unfair Competition Law. Prices of top-selling insulin drugs have soared in recent years.

☆ I tried Virtuo, an app-based vehicle-rental service, instead of a traditional agency. The car was great — but I had some trouble unlocking it.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

I rented a Mercedes GLA and enjoyed driving it, but had trouble unlocking it with the Virtuo app. I called Virtuo customer service several times but they seemed unable to help. No early birdsMy flight arrived earlier than expected in Nice, so I contacted Virtuo customer service via the app to see whether I could collect the car 45 minutes early. For around 20 minutes, we were locked out of the car and Virtuo couldn't help us. I called customer service and again, they were unable to figure out what was wrong.

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