Bill > HB679

This bill, known as the End Rental Price-Fixing Act, aims to address rising housing costs in Georgia by prohibiting rental price-fixing agreements among landlords. The legislation defines price-fixing as any agreement between competing landlords to manipulate rental prices, and establishes comprehensive definitions for terms like "landlord," "rental price," and "price-fixing function," which includes collecting and analyzing rental pricing data using computational methods like machine learning. Under the bill, any person entering into a price-fixing agreement would commit a felony punishable by one to five years in prison and/or a fine of $1,000 to $5,000, and such agreements would be deemed unenforceable contracts in restraint of trade. The bill specifically targets practices where landlords use coordinated systems or software to recommend rental prices, analyze historical pricing data, or manipulate rental markets. Importantly, the legislation does not apply to actions taken under affordable or low-income housing programs. The act will become effective upon gubernatorial approval and will apply to all residential property agreements and their renewals entered into on or after that date, with the broader goal of protecting Georgia residents from anti-competitive rental market practices.

Justice

https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70981