The Rockville City Council voted unanimously this week to join California, New York and Connecticut in banning the use of artificial intelligence in setting rent costs, becoming the first city in Maryland to do so.
Algorithmic pricing refers to software that uses complex algorithms to gather and analyze large amounts of public and private market data on behalf of landlords and property managers.
These tools can evaluate factors such as local rental trends, vacancy rates, tenant demand and competitors鈥� pricing to generate recommendations on rental rates and lease terms.
Landlords may use this information to set rents, determine fee structures, adjust lease conditions and make pricing decisions aimed at maximizing revenue and maintaining competitiveness in the housing market.
The amendments to Chapter 18 of the Rockville City Code, 鈥淩ental Facilities and Landlord-Tenant Relations,鈥� are scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1.
During the hearing Monday, members of the public, including Wendy Murphy, testified before the council about the practice before the vote.
“I’ve watched families in the city get priced out of apartments they’ve lived in for years. That left kids switching mid-year as people find they must leave neighborhoods they’ve been part of for years,” Murphy said.
The rewrite of the city code is intended to provide greater clarity for landlords and tenants while strengthening housing stability and tenant protections.
The updated law limits and clarifies landlord fees, including restrictions on payment-processing and administrative charges. It also expands relocation assistance for tenants displaced by unsafe housing conditions or code violations, requires greater transparency around lease terms, utility costs, and other mandatory fees, and strengthens the city鈥檚 enforcement authority in accordance with Maryland law.
Grant Sams, president of the Rockville Renters Association, said even with the adjustment to the city code, there will “still be a serious shortcoming in our city’s laws that leaves renters vulnerable to exploitation and abuse.”
Sams urged city leaders to do more to curtail what he called abuse of renters by some landlords.
Similar legislation has also been introduced at the state level that would prohibit the use of algorithm-driven rent-setting practices.
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