AI Frontier Institute

Relating To Antitrust.

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Hawaii S.B. 157 (S.D. 1), introduced in the 33rd Legislature (2025), amends Chapter 480 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes (antitrust law) to prohibit algorithmic rent price-fixing in the residential rental market. Section 2 adds a new section (§480-[blank]) declaring it unlawful for: (1) a rental property owner or their agent to subscribe to or contract with a 'coordinator' (an algorithmic pricing software or data analytics service); (2) a coordinator to facilitate anti-competitive agreements among landlords by performing a 'coordinating function' — defined as collecting price and lease data from two or more landlords, processing it through computational systems or algorithms, and recommending rental prices or occupancy levels; or (3) two or more landlords to engage in 'consciously parallel pricing coordination,' meaning a tacit agreement to raise, maintain, or manipulate rental prices. Section 3 amends §480-16 to include the new section in the list of antitrust violations subject to criminal penalties: natural persons face fines up to $100,000 and/or imprisonment up to three years; non-natural persons (e.g., corporations) face fines up to $1,000,000. The Department of the Attorney General is required to develop a public education program — including a website component — and to adopt administrative rules under Chapter 91. The bill's stated purpose is to address Hawaii's affordable housing crisis, citing data that more than half of Hawaii renters are housing cost-burdened, and referencing industry claims that algorithmic pricing software can raise rents by up to 14.5%. The Act is set to take effect July 1, 2050.

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