Rental housing providers should remain vigilant of ongoing efforts to regulate or ban the use of revenue management tools. Efforts are ramping up at the state and local levels, continuing a trend on the heels of efforts to promote pro-consumer competition policy through the federal courts and Congress.
Most recently, San Francisco Mayor London Breed signed the first local ordinance prohibiting the sale or use of any algorithmic devices that set, recommend or advise on rents or manage occupancy levels. This applies to the use of nonpublic competitor data in rental housing units in the City and County of San Francisco (See File 240766). The law becomes effective October 13, 2024. This follows passage of Colorado Senate Bill 24-205 which requires high-risk AI systems to use reasonable care to protect consumers from potential algorithmic discrimination and became effective in May earlier this year.
In Illinois, House Bill 5871 was recently introduced to prohibit the use of an algorithmic device that uses, incorporates or was trained with nonpublic competitor data to determine any change in rent. This legislation appears to be unlikely to move in 2024 while the Illinois state legislature is out of session, but the National Apartment Association (NAA) will be monitoring closely for reintroduction in 2025.
Additionally, legislative scrutiny of the use of algorithms in rental housing a- and algorithms more generally - have arisen in New Hampshire (House Bill 1368), California (AB 2230 and AB 2930); Colorado (HB 24-1057); Connecticut (SB 2); New Jersey (Housing Cmte. Hearing focused on this topic); New York (AB 9473); Oklahoma (HB 3453) and Rhode Island (HB 8058 & Senate companion). While these efforts were unsuccessful in 2024, NAA anticipates the introduction of future proposals in many of these jurisdictions and more.
NAA continues to support its affiliate partners’ advocacy efforts to defeat adverse housing policies at the state and local levels. NAA is committed to being the leading voice of the industry in D.C. and opposing federal efforts that would upend operations and ultimately worsen housing affordability and availability.
To learn more about technology policy, please contact Joe Riter, NAA’s Senior Manager, Public Policy.