Sponsored by:
Senator BRIAN P. STACK
District 33 (Hudson)
Senator M. TERESA RUIZ
District 29 (Essex and Hudson)
Co-Sponsored by:
Senator McKnight
SYNOPSIS
Makes use of algorithmic systems to influence price and supply of residential rental units unlawful.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning pricing of rental properties and supplementing P.L.1970, c.73 (C.56:9-1 et seq.).
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. The Legislature finds and declares that:
a. New Jersey is in the midst of an affordable housing crisis, as demonstrated by rental housing industry data showing median rent for a three-bedroom apartment increasing by 35 percent in the State from 2021 through 2024 and a studio in a more urban environment such as Hoboken increasing by 61 percent in the same timeframe.
b. Data from the United States Census Bureau indicates that over 50 percent of renters in New Jersey are deemed rent burdened, which means an individual spends more than 30 percent of income on rent.
c. Recent national data indicates that landlords of residential rental housing use property management software to collude and raise residential rental housing prices, which may have contributed to recent increases in the State.
d. Landlords engaging with the software supply real-time prices and additional lease information to companies managing the software, who proceed to use algorithms to fix rental prices. As a result, competition decreases and typically rental prices increase.
e. A leading property management software company in the United States hinted at the outcome of using its software by stating on its website that it enables landlords to outperform the market by two to five percent, with a company executive publicly stating that the software could be responsible for rent increases of up to 14.5 percent.
f. New Jersey recognizes housing as a basic human need and endeavors to expand access to affordable housing.
2. As used in this act:
Coordinating function means:
(1) collecting historical or contemporaneous prices, supply levels, or lease or rental contract termination and renewal dates of residential dwelling units from two or more rental property owners;
(2) analyzing or processing of the information described in paragraph (1) of this definition through use of a system, software, or process that uses computation, including by using the information to train an algorithm; and
(3) recommending rental prices, lease renewal terms, or ideal occupancy levels to a rental property owner.
Coordinator means any person who operates a software or data analytics service that performs a coordinating function for any rental property owner, including a rental property owner performing a coordinating function for their own benefit.
Person means, unless the context otherwise requires, any natural person or persons, or any corporation, partnership, company, trust, or association of persons.
Residential dwelling unit means any house, apartment, accessory unit, or other unit intended to be used as a primary residence in the State. Residential dwelling unit shall not include inpatient medical care, licensed long-term care, or detention or correctional facilities.
3. It shall be unlawful and a violation of the New Jersey Antitrust Act, P.L.1970, c.73 (C.56:9-1 et seq.) for:
a. a rental property owner, or any agent, representative, or subcontractor thereof, to subscribe to, contract with, or otherwise exchange any form of consideration in return for the use of services of a coordinator; or
b. a coordinator to facilitate an agreement among rental property owners that restricts competition with respect to residential dwelling units, including by performing a coordinating function.
4. This act shall take effect on the first day of the fourth month next following the date of enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill makes it unlawful to use algorithmic systems to influence the price and supply of residential rental units. Under the bill, it is unlawful and a violation of the New Jersey Antitrust Act for a rental property owner, or any agent, representative, or subcontractor thereof, to subscribe to, contract with, or otherwise exchange any form of consideration in return for the use of services of a coordinator and for a coordinator to facilitate an agreement among rental property owners that restricts competition with respect to residential dwelling units, including by performing a coordinating function.
A coordinator is defined in the bill to mean any person who operates a software or data analytics service that performs a coordinating function for any rental property owner, including a rental property owner performing a coordinating function for their own benefit. Coordinating function is defined to mean (1) collecting historical or contemporaneous prices, supply levels, or lease or rental contract termination and renewal dates of residential dwelling units from two or more rental property owners; (2) analyzing or processing of the information described in paragraph (1) through use of a system, software, or process that uses computation, including by using the information to train an algorithm; and (3) recommending rental prices, lease renewal terms, or ideal occupancy levels to a rental property owner.