Minneapolis Bans Rent-Setting Software

Four U.S. cities to date have banned software that lets landlords set rents, reports Robbie Sequeira in Stateline.

Officials charge software companies like RealPage with using data to recommend rent increases and artificially inflate rent costs. “Stateline reported last year that the algorithms have drawn increasing oversight attention as the country continues to wrestle with an affordable housing crisis.” The software, according to critics, amounts to a price-fixing scheme.

While legislation at the state level has stalled in several states, cities like San Francisco and Philadelphia are taking matters into their own hands. Minneapolis was the latest to pass legislation restricting the software, according to Sequeira. “Elsewhere, New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul has proposed legislation to ban algorithmic rent-setting tools, while Oregon lawmakers are considering an expansion of city-level bans. Lawmakers in Arizona, California, Idaho, Illinois, Georgia, New Hampshire, Hawaii have introduced bills, but none has advanced.”