Landlords in Montgomery County have been using AI-powered software to coordinate rent increases — feeding pricing data into algorithms that push rents higher for everyone. It’s old-fashioned price fixing using new technology. Critics have called it what it is: “in effect, a housing cartel.”
Councilmember Will Jawando introduced the Anti-Algorithmic Price Fixing Act (Bill 8-26) to stop this practice and give the county the enforcement tools to back it up.
“I grew up as a low-income renter in Montgomery County. My mom and I moved five times before I was in the eighth grade looking for affordable housing. So when renters tell me they feel like the system is rigged — unfortunately, they’re right.”
— Councilmember Will Jawando
Forty percent of Montgomery County residents are renters. Maryland’s Attorney General has filed a lawsuit alleging that pricing software companies and landlords colluded to illegally raise rents — including at properties right here in Montgomery County. The U.S. Department of Justice has also settled claims against the nation’s largest landlord and a major rent-setting software provider.
The bill would prohibit the use of algorithmic devices for setting rents, ban price coordination among landlords, and give Montgomery County enforcement power to hold violators accountable.
“We have to tackle this head on. It’s time to stop automated greed and put our residents first.”
— Councilmember Will Jawando