I agree that banding together with other tenants is a losing idea. Most of these large complexes have full time staff working while each individual renter is just that, an individual where the cost/hassle of moving far outweigh paying a little more per month.
At the end of the day, most of these places know the market rents since they deal with it all the time as it’s their job/business and they evaluate the market rent whenever someone moves out.
Maybe for the old landlord with 1 or 2 properties who want good tenants and less hassle, trying to do something like this seems like you’d end up just swallowing your pride and arguing, but retreating with your tail between your legs.
At the end of the day, people have to realize your “primary” residence is a home first and pretty much that’s it actually. It doesn’t matter as much as long as you can pay since you have to live somewhere. For people with school aged children, this is even more true since they are less likely to want to move their kids to a different area.
A house close by me just rented their place in like a week for much more than my mortgage. This looks like it’s 10-20% higher than 2-3 years ago as well so it seems people are willing to pay since they have no choice. One reason to just own so you don’t have to feel threatened and pissed off since you have no control as a renter.
Tough to buy with high prices/credit issues as well probably driving rents higher.
