ProPublica ,
@ProPublica@newsie.social avatar

We Found That Could Be Using Algorithms to Fix Prices. Now Lawmakers Want to Make the Practice Illegal.

After a ProPublica investigation, U.S. senators introduced a bill to curb “price fixing” linked to rent-setting software.

“Setting prices with an algorithm is no different from doing it over cigars and whiskey in a private club,” said one sponsor.

https://www.propublica.org/article/senators-introduce-legislation-stop-landlords-algorithm-price-fixing?utm_medium=social&utm_source=mastodon&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

IAmDannyBoling ,
@IAmDannyBoling@mstdn.social avatar

@ProPublica

The company that runs the complex where we are now uses this to set every day.

I've been the daily advertised price for a while now and the variations of the price for the same unit from day to day should be illegal. Example: Over the course of just four days, I tracked rent prices of three-bedroom units go down $310 on a Saturday and go up $205 the following Tuesday. How does that happen?

A screenshot of part of a spreadsheet I use to enter the daily advertised rent prices (of where we live now) for 1-, 2-, and 3-bedroom units. I also calculate the price change, in dollars and percents, compared to the day before. The spreadsheet has a row for each day and three columns for entering the rent price of each of the three sizes of units. The calculated columns are to the right of those. The screenshot shows a sample of my data over a 17-day period from February 21, 2023, through March 9, 2023. (I have more data than just this.) During that time: The largest daily rent price increase for a 3-bedroom unit (to $1858 per month) was $187 or 10%; the largest daily decrease (to $1702 per month) was -$141 or -8%. These changes occurred over just five days. The largest daily rent price increase for a 2-bedroom unit (to $1547 per month) was $37 or 2%; the largest daily decrease (to $1500 per month) was -$47 or -3%. These changes occurred *overnight*. The largest daily rent price increase for a 1-bedroom unit (to $1199 per month) was $76 or 6%; the largest daily decrease (to $1119 per month) was -$100 or -9%. These changes occurred over just five days.
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