AI Frontier Institute

Relating to the use of certain algorithmic devices in the determination of residential rental prices.

View primary source →

Texas H.B. 2491 (by Talarico) would add Chapter 121 to the Business & Commerce Code, restricting the use of algorithmic pricing tools in the residential rental market. Under Section 121.003, the bill prohibits outright the sale of algorithmic device services or products used to set or recommend residential rent amounts. It also bars providers of such advisory tools from incorporating 'nonpublic competitor data' — defined in Section 121.001 as non-publicly available information such as actual rent prices, occupancy rates, and lease dates shared among competing landlords — into their rental pricing calculations for Texas residential properties. Key exclusions under Section 121.001 include periodically published, anonymized trade-association reports and tools used to set rent or income limits under affordable housing programs. Section 121.002 creates an applicability carve-out: the chapter does not apply if nonpublic executed lease data is also made available to the public in an aggregated, anonymous form (e.g., average rent ranges by zip code or neighborhood) at no more than a reasonable charge. Section 121.004 classifies violations of Section 121.003 as deceptive trade practices enforceable under Subchapter E, Chapter 17 of the Business & Commerce Code. The Act would take effect September 1, 2025.

← Back to the tracker