If you’ve hunted for apartments recently and felt like all the rents were equally high, you’re not crazy: Many landlords now use a single company’s software — which uses an algorithm based on proprietary lease information — to help set rent prices.
Federal prosecutors say the practice amounts to “an unlawful information-sharing scheme,” and some lawmakers throughout California are moving to curb it. San Diego’s city council president is the latest to do so, proposing a ban that would prevent local apartment owners from using the pricing service, which he maintains is driving up housing costs.
San Diego’s proposed ordinance, which is currently being drafted, comes after San Francisco enacted a first-in-the-nation ban on “the sale or use of algorithmic devices to set rents or manage occupancy levels” for residences in July. San Jose is considering a similar approach.
Price fixing is illegal. If being a landlord is a business how is this not price fixing?
This is good but the cities also need to look at how rising property taxes affect rent as well.
Freeze rent not people
They need to be punished by drastically reducing rent…
My apartment raised the rent and now the heat for half the building doesn’t work. No big deal though, it’s just winter in Alaska
EDIT: fucking auto correct.
How do you bake anything like that?
Yeast? Do you live in a bakery?
Would if I could, dough.
How do brew more alcohol?
This is so outrageous. Directly contributes to today’s economics and the squeeze on the dwindling middle class.
