Denver City Council is considering a proposal to ban what it terms “algorithmic price fixing in rental housing.” 🧵 At issue is the adoption by multifamily rental operators of management software that uses members info to create aggregated data on market conditions. The system reduces the lag in pricing as markets conditions change. As more property owners adopt the software, the market intelligence is closer to real time pricing, lease terms can adjust to changes in supply or demand more quickly. When Denver was supply constrained and high demand, prices went up in real time, faster for software users. In today’s market, as 4,000+ units came online and demand has slowed, prices are falling in real time. Lewis and Kashman paint the tech as the modern equivalent of a smoke filled room, with mustache twirling villains screwing the little guy so they can surf piles of gold. Missing from their naughty landlord scenario and ordinance is: ▫️the recognition that the software provides intelligence on supply and demand, including *lowering* prices as markets change. Their single point of data came at Denver’s peak. Re-run the analysis today and the results would find the software generating an impact that decreases rent; and ▫️A Nov. 2025 settlement with RealPage and DOJ addressed key concerns (e.g., leasing data in the algo/pricing recommendations now must be at least 12 months old and more). The proposed ordinance is economically illiterate slop and pretends the DOJ settlement doesn’t exist. The provision giving tenants the private right to sue is a nightmare and will further distort Denver’s rental market and add another reason to the growing list making Denver a bad investment for multifamily operators. Maybe that’s the point. At every turn, this Council seeks to make the private rental business more expensive and a risky investment. Members of the Budget and Policy should reject this ill-conceived bill on Monday. FYI: Polis vetoed a similar bill in 2025.