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Bill

S 3657

Regulates the discovery and disclosure of immigration status

2025 Regular Session Introduced by George Borrello

Prohibits using software or data analytics to coordinate rental pricing by collecting price/supply data and training algorithms to set rents, strengthening antitrust protections.

OPINION REFERRED TO JUDICIARY
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Bill Summary · S 3657

Summary of S 3657 (New Jersey)

Note on title: The bill’s title in your materials (“Regulates the discovery and disclosure of immigration status”) appears mismatched with the introduced text, which focuses on pricing of rental properties and anti-collusion measures. The summary below reflects the introduced version’s content concerning algorithmic pricing in the rental housing market.

Purpose and intent

  • Address concerns about affordable housing and perceived use of software to influence rental pricing.
  • Prohibit the use of coordinating functions—via software or data analytics—that gather price/supply data and use it to train algorithms and set rental prices, with the aim of maintaining or increasing rents.
  • Align with and strengthen New Jersey’s antitrust framework to prevent coordination that restricts competition in the rental housing market.

Key provisions and changes

  • Definitions

    • Coordinating function: A process that (1) collects price, supply, or renewal/termination data from two or more rental property owners; (2) analyzes this data via computational systems, including algorithm training; and (3) recommends rental prices, renewal terms, or occupancy levels to a rental property owner.
    • Coordinator: Any person operating a software or data analytics service that performs a coordinating function for rental property owners (including an owner acting for their own benefit).
    • Residential dwelling unit: Primary residences in the state, excluding inpatient medical care, licensed long-term care, and detention/correction facilities.

  • Prohibited conduct

    • It is unlawful under the bill and a violation of the New Jersey Antitrust Act for a rental property owner (or their agent/subcontractor) to subscribe to, contract with, or exchange any consideration for the use of a coordinator’s services.
    • It is also unlawful for a coordinator to facilitate an agreement among rental property owners that restricts competition in residential dwelling units by performing a coordinating function.

  • Relationship to antitrust law

    • The act explicitly subjects coordinating functions and related arrangements to antitrust scrutiny, reinforcing prohibitions on price-fixing and non-competitive collaboration among rental owners.

  • Effective date

    • The act would take effect on the first day of the fourth month after enactment.

Who is affected

  • Rental property owners, landlords, and their agents/subcontractors.
  • Coordinators (including software/analytics providers) that collect, analyze, and share price/supply data to influence rents.
  • Property management entities that rely on data-driven pricing tools.
  • The broader rental housing market in New Jersey, including tenants indirectly through pricing dynamics.

Procedural and timeline aspects

  • Introduced in the Senate: September 26, 2024.
  • Status updates show multiple referrals to Judiciary and Attorney General opinions in early-2025 (OPINION REFERRED TO JUDICIARY; TO ATTORNEY-GENERAL FOR OPINION).
  • Chief sponsor: Senator George Borrello (primary).
  • Related bill: S 9613 (prior-session).

Context and potential impact

  • The bill seeks to curb algorithm-driven price coordination amid an affordable-housing crisis, where rent burdens are high and rents have risen markedly in recent years.
  • By prohibiting coordinators from enabling price-restrictive agreements among owners, the bill aims to preserve competitive rental markets and potentially mitigate unwarranted rent increases driven by data-sharing and algorithmic pricing.

For readers, the core takeaway is: the bill would make certain data-sharing and algorithmic pricing practices in the rental market illegal if they amount to coordinating functions that reduce competition.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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