Portland in lead of cities prohibiting AI rent hikes

Published 2:30 pm Monday, March 31, 2025

Editor’s note: The Portland City Council on Wednesday, April 2, will consider an ordinance to prevent landlords from using artificial intelligence software — also called algorithmic pricing — to set rents. “This ordinance will prohibit anticompetitive practices driven by AI and algorithms, restoring the market competition critical to addressing the ongoing housing crisis,” the impact statement reads. It is supported by tenant advocates and opposed by landlords and real estate interests. The following story helps explain the controversy:

Minneapolis became the fourth U.S. city to ban algorithmic rental price-fixing software on Thursday, March 27, joining San Francisco, Philadelphia and Berkeley, California, in a growing wave of legislation aimed at protecting renters from rental price-gouging.

While momentum builds at the city level — with Portland, Providence, Rhode Island, and San Diego exploring similar laws — statewide bans have been slower to emerge.

The legislation targets tools such as RealPage’s YieldStar, which uses landlord-shared data to recommend rent increases — a practice critics say worsens unaffordable housing.

Stateline reported last year that the algorithms have drawn increasing oversight attention as the country continues to wrestle with an affordable housing crisis.

“This wave of action shows that local governments are stepping up where federal enforcement takes time,” said Ivan Luevanos-Elms, executive director of Local Progress, the national network helping coordinate these efforts.

In 2024, proposed legislation failed to prohibit the use of these algorithms stalled in Illinois, New York and Rhode Island.

Washington state has seen the most movement, with a proposed ban passing the Senate and awaiting a House vote. Colorado’s House approved a similar bill in March and it’s now headed to the Senate.

Elsewhere, New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul has proposed legislation to ban algorithmic rent-setting tools, while Oregon lawmakers are considering an expansion of city-level bans. Lawmakers in Arizona, California, Idaho, Illinois, Georgia, New Hampshire, Hawaii have introduced bills, but none has advanced.

The legislative surge follows lawsuits against RealPage and six major landlords, accused by the U.S. Department of Justice and 10 state attorneys general of collusion and anticompetitive practices. But with court cases expected to drag on for years, cities are opting for faster action.

Still, these bans have met resistance from real estate and landlord groups. In Oregon, landlords and property managers argue the software helps manage rentals more efficiently.

“Without these tools, we must rely on outdated methods,” said Oregon landlord Aaron Douglas in submitted testimony. “This isn’t just an inconvenience; it’s a step backward.”

Stateline and the Capital Chronicle are both part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Stateline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Scott S. Greenberger for questions: info@stateline.org.