BILL NUMBER: S6471A
SPONSOR: CLEARE
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the real property law, in relation to the use of auto-
mated housing decision making tools to make housing decisions
 
PURPOSE:
This Legislation will help to prevent potential discrimination in hous-
ing from the use of automated housing decision making tools.
 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section one adds a new section 227-g to the real property law. Section
two sets forth the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
With the proliferation of artificial intelligence toots, more sectors
are retying on their assistance to make decisions. Artificial intelli-
gence tools are being utilized by landlords to screen applications
submitted by potential tenants. Taking into consideration a potential
tenant's credit, rental history, employment and other information, these
tools assign a score to each candidate that landlords use in selecting
tenants.
If these tools have built-in biases, applicants may not be considered
for an apartment. While efforts have been made to combat housing
discrimination, the emergence of these tools has presented a new oppor-
tunity for discrimination by a computer algorithm.
This bill would require that any automated housing decision making tools
that are used in the selection of tenants must undergo a disparate
impact analysis to ensure that they are not likely to result in an
adverse impact to potential renters based on their sex, race, ethnicity
or other protected class. This legislation would also require that
applicants be informed of the use of any automated decision tools used
in the screening process and be provided an explanation if they have
been rejected due to such assessment.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2022-23: A.7906 - Reported to Rules; S.7735 - Referred to Investigations
& Government Operations
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None to the State.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.