Algorithms increasingly mediate critical decisions in our lives—what jobs we’re offered, what loans we qualify for, what news we see, and, increasingly, how much we pay for rent. These systems operate with little transparency or accountability, and when applied to housing, they can quietly but powerfully distort the market to the detriment of Coloradans.
That’s why House Bill 25-1004, which recently passed the Colorado legislature and now awaits the governor’s signature, is so important. This bill would prohibit landlords from using the same third party rent-setting algorithm to determine prices—an increasingly common practice that has led to artificially inflated rents and reduced affordability across the state.
The mechanics of this unfair arrangement are simple but insidious, laid out in antitrust lawsuits from the Department of Justice, several Attorneys General including Colorado’s Phil Weiser, and several private litigants: property management companies sign up with the same third-party software providers, give aggregate non-public data from all participating landlords, and recommend rent prices—often above market rate. There are more details that vary, but pressure and default policies require
The result is coordinated pricing that looks a lot like the classic price fixing, even if no one is sitting in the classic antitrust case of smoke-filled room making deals. This isn’t just a theoretical concern. Renters who live in older apartments in Colorado are seeing unrelenting price increases despite a significant increase in new units across the state. In a functioning market, high vacancy should mean lower rents. But when landlords are all using the same algorithm, prices stay purposefully sticky.
This bill is a straightforward response to a clear problem. It doesn’t ban technology or data analysis. It simply says that landlords can’t use the same algorithmic tool to set prices in a way that undermines competition. It’s about restoring the basic principles of a free market—where prices are set by supply and demand, not by collusion cloaked in code. A settlement between the Attorney General and a large property management company restricts this use for their properties, but renters should have this expectation across the state, leveling the playing field.
The bill is narrowly tailored. It targets only the use of shared algorithmic tools that facilitate coordinated pricing. Landlords are still free to analyze market data and set rents competitively—just not in concert with their competitors through a shared system.
The result is a freer market with more choice for consumers. Renters with different budgets and priorities should have differently priced options based on location, amenities, and other factors rather than an inflated one-price-fits all market disconnected from supply and demand.
This is not a radical idea. It’s a common-sense measure to prevent a new form of price fixing that exploits technology to evade traditional antitrust scrutiny, which CFA has supported across the country.
By enacting HB25-1004, Colorado can help cut costs for renters, restore fairness to the housing market, and send a clear message: anticompetitive behavior is unacceptable—no matter what technology is used to carry it out. It being signed into law would be a clear and targeted win for Coloradans.