Washington, DC—In response to news that Philadelphia Councilmember Nicolas O’Rourke has introduced a bill to ban algorithmic price setting in the rental housing market, the American Economic Liberties Project released the following statement.

“Councilmember O’Rourke’s bill to ban algorithmic price-fixing in rental housing markets is a common-sense measure to protect Philadelphia renters from collusion that has played a major role in driving today’s housing crisis,” said Pat Garofalo, Director of State and Local Policy at the American Economic Liberties Project. “Third-party rent-fixing software enables landlords to fix rent prices and restrict housing supply across the country, causing greater housing instability for young people, long-term renters, and entire communities, as alleged in a recent complaint the Department of Justice filed against RealPage, one of the industry’s dominant players. We applaud Philadelphia for being among the first cities to fight back at the municipal level, and urge the City Council to pass this measure without delay.”

Corporations such as RealPage — whose software helps landlords share data in order to set rents above competitive levels and raise marginal profits, even at lower occupancy rates — have been connected to affordability crises in cities from Seattle to Atlanta.

In August, the Department of Justice Antitrust Division—following other criminal probes and suits from state attorneys general — sued RealPage for violating Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act. Earlier this month, San Francisco became the first municipality to ban the use of algorithmic price-setting software to determine rental housing prices.

For more, read this joint Economic Liberties and Local Progress brief outlining the tools that states and municipalities can use to combat algorithmic price-fixing in rental markets.

Read our memo with Local Progress here.

Learn more about Economic Liberties here.

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The American Economic Liberties Project works to ensure America’s system of commerce is structured to advance, rather than undermine, economic liberty, fair commerce, and a secure, inclusive democracy. Economic Liberties believes true economic liberty means entrepreneurs and businesses large and small succeed on the merits of their ideas and hard work; commerce empowers consumers, workers, farmers, and engineers instead of subjecting them to discrimination and abuse from financiers and monopolists; foreign trade arrangements support domestic security and democracy; and wealth is broadly distributed to support equitable political power.