Seattle City Council passes bill banning artificial rent fixing software
Seattle City Council passes ban on rent fixing software
The Seattle City Council voted 7-0 on Tuesday to ban software that allegedly enables landlords to fix rents using shared data.
SEATTLE - The Seattle City Council has approved a ban on controversial software that allegedly helps landlords artificially raise rents.
The backstory:
The bill, which passed with a 7-0 vote on Tuesday, prohibits landlords in Seattle from using software like "RealPage" that lets property managers share public and private data with each other, causing algorithmic rent fixing.
Councilmember Maritza Rivera, a landlord, abstained from voting.
Council Bill 121000 was introduced by Councilmember Cathy Moore, and it quickly passed out of the Housing and Human Services Committee. The bill was on the city council's agenda last week but was delayed after receiving pushback.
"Seattle continues to be in the midst of an affordability housing crisis, and we need to explore every reasonable, well-vetted tool that can help us prevent displacement," said Councilmember Moore. "By prohibiting the use of this automated, predatory software, we can play a part in keeping rents more affordable. This is an easy ‘win’ for the city’s housing work, and I appreciate my colleagues joining me in passing this bill."
Commercial real estate and housing organizations spoke out against CB 121000, saying there was a lack of outreach to landlords and property management companies regarding the bill.
The bill creates penalties of up to $7,500 per violation if a landlord is found to be using algorithmic rent fixing software.
Several other big cities have adopted similar legislation, including San Diego, San Francisco, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Portland, and Jersey City.
CB 121000 now goes to Mayor Bruce Harrell for approval. It would go into effect 30 days after being signed.
The Source: Information in this story came from the Seattle City Council and FOX 13 Seattle reporting.
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