Following their counterparts in Jersey City, the Hoboken City Council is asking the New Jersey Legislature to ban rent-setting algorithms like RealPage.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“I am committed to shedding light on these unscrupulous practices and working to ensure that all Hoboken residents and workers have access to safe and affordable housing,” 5th Ward Councilman Phil Cohen, a co-sponsor of the resolution, said in a statement.
“The Hoboken City Council is calling on New Jersey legislators to pass legislation banning the use of these algorithmic systems that are driving tenants out of their homes.”
Recent national investigations and lawsuits have revealed troubling practices among property management companies that use software to unfairly inflate rental prices.
According to reports, property managers share real-time, non-public price and lease information with property technology companies, which in turn use algorithms to recommend rents for large portions of the market, effectively suppressing competition and driving up rental prices.
One leading property technology company has boasted that its rent-pricing software enables landlords to “outperform the market” by two to five percent.
“It is clear that use of this predatory software is leading to the artificial inflation of rent levels in Hoboken,” added Councilwoman-at-Large Emily Jabbour, the resolution co-sponsor.
“I am glad to see Hoboken’s City Council has a united voice with our colleagues in Jersey City to ask the State Legislature to ban its use to prevent exploitation of tenants.”
The Jersey City Council unanimously approved (7-0) their version of the virtually identical local legislation, which was backed by labor union 32BJ SEIU, on June 26th, as HCV first reported.
