City Council Halts Vote on AI Rental Pricing Software Ban
Summary
Portland City Council was expected to vote on the measure Wednesday evening, but Councilor Angelita Morillo cited “new litigation,” indirectly referring to a lawsuit in Berkeley, California regarding a similar rental pricing software ban. “I want to assert that the litigation is not determinative of what’s going to happen here, but it’s worth us keeping an eye on and being responsible stewards of policy and maintaining good conversations with stakeholders as we look into it.” The algorithmic rental price-fixing ordinance, introduced to the Housing and Homelessness Committee in February by Councilor Morillo, would make it a violation of city code for landlords and property management companies to use specific AI-based software to determine rent prices. Morillo says the proposed policy, which was co-sponsored by Councilors Mitch Green and Tiffany Koyama Lane, was created as a mechanism for preventing artificial inflation in the local rental market, and keeping rents affordable. Proponents of the policy say companies like RealPage are currently using AI-driven software that processes market data to generate recommended rental prices, based on maximum profitability. But the judge in the case “remained unconvinced” of RealPage’s First Amendment violation claims, as reported by MLex, a news site that tracks legal and regulatory changes affecting businesses.