THE PROBLEM

Third-party algorithmic price-setting software, which can facilitate collusion between competitors by taking advantage of grey areas in antitrust law, represents a new threat to consumers, independent businesses, and workers. 

It has become especially prominent in rental housing markets, where platforms like RealPage have allegedly helped landlords coordinate to set rents above competitive levels and raise marginal profits—even at lower occupancy rates—driving affordability crises in cities from Seattle to Atlanta. 

BEST LEGISLATION TO FOLLOW

Colorado HB25-1004

San Francisco, Philadelphia, and more than half a dozen other cities have enacted municipal ordinances to ban algorithmic “rent-fixing” in the housing market; nineteen states are considering such legislation this year. Broader legislation in California and Idaho proposes to ban algorithmic price-setting broadly.

LEARN MORE

Campaign: End Rental Price-Fixing

Policy Brief: A New Culprit in the Housing Crisis: Rent-Setting Software Algorithms