In Oregon, apartments built in the last 15 years are exempt from rent stabilization law - which limits rent increases to 10% a year.
New builds are often owned by large corporations, and many are using AI software to set rents.
During a hearing this week, Cristal DeJarnac, an at-home-care provider, said her family has to move, but can’t afford anything in the rapidly-growing city of Bend.
"We are a family of five and have three generations living here," said DeJarnac. "With the cost of housing and the shortage of truly affordable housing in Bend, we are uncertain of where we'll live."
Adriana Grant, a policy associate with the Eugene Tenant Alliance, told lawmakers that allowing new buildings to remain exempt from rent increase restrictions and allowing corporate landlords to trade insider information through software undermines the state’s efforts to address the housing crisis.
“Corporate landlords are using these predatory algorithms across the state,” Grant said. “If we don’t act now, Oregonians will continue to be priced out of their homes by software that treats housing as nothing more than a financial asset.”
If the bill moves forward, the rent stabilization exception would be reduced from 15 to seven years. Landlords would be banned from using AI algorithm software to determine rents.
Oregon sued one of the biggest rent software companies in the U.S., RealPage, last year accusing the company of engaging in anti-competitive activities and violating antitrust law.
Mike Semko, a representative from RealPage, testified during Wednesday’s hearing, arguing the company’s software is market analysis, not price fixing. He argued the software is a tool landlords can use to help manage large apartment complexes and banning it is unfair to their industry.
“Our software does not set prices at all,” he said. “In fact our customers accept the pricing suggestion we give them less than 50% of the time, it’s really only 35% of the time.”
A few groups representing real estate, and multi-family rental companies also testified in opposition, arguing that reducing the rent cap to seven years might make it harder for developers to attract investment and could make building housing less profitable.
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This story comes from the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.