#USA #California #SanFrancisco #Housing #Rents #Algorithms #PriceCollusion: "San Francisco's Board of Supervisors this week approved a ban on software that is allegedly used by landlords to collude on rent prices. Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin recently proposed what his office called "the first local ordinance in the country banning the sale or use of software which enables price collusion among large corporate landlords for the purpose of rent-gouging."

The ordinance was approved on a first reading by a 10-0 vote by the board on Tuesday. It still needs to pass a final vote scheduled for September 3, Bloomberg wrote.

The ban targets software companies RealPage and Yardi. "RealPage has exacerbated our rent crisis and empowered corporate landlords to intentionally keep units vacant. So we're taking action locally to ensure our working renters can afford to live here," Peskin said.

RealPage and Yardi "collect and combine proprietary large landlord data and make pricing and occupancy recommendations," Peskin's office said. "These recommendations then effectively become the lay of the land, with multiple investigations finding they amount to illegal price-fixing. RealPage's own executives have told investors that its software has driven double-digit increases in rents, increased 'turnover' of units, and increased vacancy rates.""

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/08/san-francisco-to-ban-software-that-enables-price-collusion-by-landlords/