In recent years, large landlords and property managers across the country have begun using rent-setting software which uses shared data and algorithms to determine rent prices. While companies using this software claim they simply help property managers find the right price for their units, these algorithms artificially drive-up costs by recommending profit-maximizing rents and facilitating collusion between competitors – often leading to double digit rent increases and more vacancies.  
 

Instead of competing with each other, corporate landlords are working together. Their algorithms maximize not just one landlord’s revenue, but revenue across all clients in the market. This is a clear practice of inappropriate price fixing, which artificially constrains the housing supply and exacerbates inflation.
 

The most popular service, RealPage, controls approximately 80% of this market and was sued by the United States Department of Justice for antitrust violations in 2024. So far, lawmakers from 19 states and the U.S. Senate have introduced legislation to restrict its usage. The City of Philadelphia also passed an ordinance banning the technology this past October.   
 

Our legislation would protect all Pennsylvanians from this predatory scheme by classifying the use of algorithmic rent-setting technology as an unfair trade practice. Please join us in safeguarding renters from collusion and price-fixing.