AI Frontier Institute

Preventing Algorithmic Rent Fixing

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North Carolina House Bill 970 ("Preventing Algorithmic Rent Fixing") has not been enacted. It was filed April 10, 2025, passed first reading, and was referred to the House Committee on Rules, Calendar, and Operations. If enacted, it would add a new Article 8 to Chapter 42 of the General Statutes. Section 42-80 defines key terms. "Coordinating function" covers collecting rent, price, supply, occupancy, or lease-date data from two or more lessors or from public databases. It also covers analyzing that data with computational tools, recommending rents, lease terms, or occupancy levels, and using a pricing algorithm that uses or was trained on nonpublic competitor data. "Pricing algorithm" expressly includes machine learning and other AI techniques. Section 42-81 would make it unlawful for a residential real estate lessor, or its agent or subcontractor, to subscribe to, contract for, or exchange anything of value for coordinating functions. It would also make it unlawful for a service provider to facilitate an agreement not to compete among lessors of residential units in North Carolina. Section 42-82 provides that a violation is an unfair or deceptive trade practice under G.S. 75-1.1. Aggrieved parties could sue and obtain Chapter 75 relief, and the Attorney General could enforce the Article. At the election of the person alleging a violation (or a class representative), pre-dispute arbitration agreements and joint-action waivers would not be enforceable for related cases. Under Section 2, the act would take effect October 1, 2025, and would apply to acts or omissions on or after that date.

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