HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance 19-O-26, Preventing Algorithmic Rent Fixing in the Rental Housing Market (1) (2) (1)
04/21/2026
19-O-26
AN ORDINANCE
Creating Title 5, Chapter 3, Section 13, “Preventing Algorithmic Rent
Fixing in the Rental Housing Market”
WHEREAS, the City of Evanston is a home rule municipality under the Illinois
Constitution of 1970; and
WHEREAS, in Evanston as well as across the country, landlords are using
software algorithms and other information exchanges between competitors to impact
rents, artificially constrain supply, and further exacerbate the housing crisis; and
WHEREAS, corporations sell software or access to information exchanges that
promise to boost landlord profits by (1) collecting sensitive data from landlords across
regional housing markets and (2) processing sensitive data and public data to
recommend rent increases and create artificial scarcity by leaving a certain percentage
of housing units vacant that drive up monthly rental rates; and
WHEREAS, this problem is exacerbated by a trend toward consolidation in local
rental housing markets, as more units are controlled by large, institutional landlords and
property managers; and
WHEREAS, access to affordable housing and fair and transparent housing
prices is a critical issue for the residents of Evanston; and
WHEREAS, 13,863 Evanston households, 44% of all Evanston households, are
renters; and
Page 1 of 6
WHEREAS, the median annual income of Evanston renter households is
$60,613, and 68% of Evanston renter households who earn less than $75,000 per year
are housing cost-burdened, spending at least 30% of their income on housing costs;
and
WHEREAS, 49% of all Evanston renter households are housing cost burdened;
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF EVANSTON,
COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS:
SECTION 1. Title 5, Chapter 3, Section 13, “Preventing Algorithmic Rent
Fixing in the Rental Housing Market” is hereby created as follows:
1. DEFINITIONS
For the purpose of this Section:
ALGORITHMIC
DEVICE
A device that uses one or more algorithms to perform
calculations of data, including nonpublic competitor data
and data concerning local or statewide rent amounts
being charged to tenants by real estate lessors, for the
purpose of providing recommendations to a real estate
lessor concerning the amount of rent that the real estate
lessor may consider charging a tenant. It includes a
product that incorporates an algorithmic device but does
not include: (1) any report published periodically, but no
more frequently than monthly, by a trade association
that receives renter data and publishes it in an
aggregated and anonymous manner; (2) a product used
for the purpose of establishing rent or income limits in
accordance with the affordable housing program
guidelines of the City of Evanston, the State of Illinois,
or the federal government; or (3) a product or process
that provides or uses, or the provision or use of,
information for the purpose of (i) conducting market
research for project financing or (ii) conducting an
appraisal.
19-O-26
Page 2 of 6
NONPUBLIC
COMPETITOR
DATA
Information that is not widely available or easily
accessible to the public, including information about
actual rent prices, occupancy rates, lease start and end
dates, and similar data, regardless of whether the data
are attributable to a specific competitor or anonymized,
and that is derived from or otherwise provided by
another person that competes in the same market as a
person, or a related market.
PERSON Any natural person, corporation, partnership, limited
liability company, firm, or association.
PREDISPUTE
ARBITRATION
AGREEMENT
An agreement to arbitrate a dispute that has not yet
arisen at the time of the making of the agreement.
PREDISPUTE
JOINT-ACTION
WAIVER
An agreement, whether or not part of a predispute
arbitration agreement, that would prohibit, or waive the
right of, one of the parties to the agreement to
participate in a joint, class, or collective action in a
judicial, arbitral, administrative, or other forum,
concerning a dispute that has not yet arisen at the time
of the making of the agreement.
PRICE
COORDINATION
Engaging in both of the following acts: (a) collecting
nonpublic competitor information concerning prices,
price changes, supply levels, occupancy rates, or lease
or rental contract termination and renewal dates of
residential rental units from two or more real estate
lessors, whether or not monetary or other valuable
consideration is paid to acquire or collect such
information; and (b) recommending or suggesting rental
prices, fees, rental terms, or occupancy levels to a real
estate lessor based on such information, including when
such recommendation involves the analysis or
processing of information using a computational or
algorithmic system, software, or process. Price
coordination does not include providing information for
the purposes of (1) producing any report published
periodically, but no more frequently than monthly, by a
trade association that receives renter data and
publishes it in an aggregated and anonymous manner;
(2) establishing rent or income limits in accordance with
the affordable housing program guidelines of the City of
19-O-26
Page 3 of 6
Evanston, the State of Illinois, or the federal
government; or (3) conducting market research for
project financing or conducting an appraisal.
REAL ESTATE
LESSOR
Any individual, corporation, partnership, association,
joint-stock company, trust, or unincorporated
organization that owns real property and leases such
property or any portion thereof in the form of a
residential dwelling unit.
RESIDENTIAL
DWELLING UNIT
Any house, apartment, accessory unit, or other primarily
residential unit, including independent or assisted living
units that are rented or owned. This does not include
detention or correctional facilities, or inpatient medical
care or licensed long-term care facilities that are
occupied by bed rather than by unit.
RENTAL PRICING The total amount of rent, including concessions, fees,
and any other rental term or condition, that a residential
tenant is required to pay under a rental agreement.
2. UNLAWFUL CONDUCT.
(a) No person shall enter into an agreement with any other person to not
compete with respect to rental pricing, fees, or any other rental term for
residential dwelling units in the City, including but not limited to an agreement for
services related to an algorithmic device.
(b) No person shall engage in price coordination for residential dwelling
units in the City, including through the sale, licensure, or provision of any service
or product that involves price coordination of residential dwelling units, and
including but not limited to a service related to an algorithmic device.
(c) No person shall facilitate an agreement between two or more persons
to not compete with respect to rental pricing, fees, or any other rental term for
residential dwelling units in the City, including but not limited to an agreement for
services related to an algorithmic device.
(d) No person shall use, subscribe to, or contract or pay for, the services
of another person if such services involve price coordination or otherwise
encourage or facilitate an agreement with other persons to not compete with
respect to any rental term for residential dwelling units in the City, including but
not limited to services related to an algorithmic device.
3. APPLICABILITY.
19-O-26
Page 4 of 6
(a) This Section shall apply to any agreement that is executed on or after
the effective date of this Ordinance.
4. ENFORCEMENT.
(a) Public Enforcement.
(1) Any person who does not comply with the provisions of this
Section shall be fined five hundred dollars ($500.00) for each violation.
Noncompliance fines shall be paid into the Affordable Housing Fund.
(2) The City may file a civil action for violations of this Section, if it is
deemed necessary by the City Manager or designee, for damages,
injunctive relief, restitution or return of illegal profits, and/or civil penalties
of up to five hundred dollars ($500) per violation. The court shall award
reasonable attorney’s fees and costs to the City if the City is the prevailing
party in such a civil action. Any civil penalties imposed shall be paid into
the Affordable Housing Fund.
(b) Private Right of Action. A tenant may file a civil action for violations of
this Section for damages, injunctive relief, restitution or return of illegal profits,
and/or civil penalties of up to five hundred dollars ($500) per violation. The court
shall award reasonable attorney’s fees and costs to the tenant if the tenant is the
prevailing party in such a civil action. A lease provision that limits a prevailing
tenant from obtaining attorneys’ fees shall not be enforceable against a tenant’s
claim for attorneys’ fees that arises under this Section.
(c) Violations. Each separate day that a violation exists or continues, and
each separate residential dwelling unit that is the subject of a violation, shall
constitute a separate and distinct violation.
(d) Invalidity of pre-dispute arbitration agreements and joint-action
waivers. At the election of the person alleging conduct constituting a violation of
this Section, or the named representative of a class or a collective action alleging
such conduct, no pre-dispute arbitration agreement or pre-dispute joint-action
waiver shall be valid or enforceable with respect to a case which relates to a
violation of this Section.
(e) Statute of limitations. A claim for a violation of this Section must be
filed in court within four years of the date when a reasonably diligent person
should have discovered that such violation occurred.
5. RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER LAWS.
(a) This Section is intended to supplement any other remedies available
under the laws of the City of Evanston, Cook County, the State of Illinois, or the
United States. Remedies available under this Section are in addition to, and not
instead of, any other available remedies.
19-O-26
Page 5 of 6
SECTION 2: All ordinances or parts of ordinances in conflict herewith are
hereby repealed.
SECTION 3: If any provision of this Ordinance or application thereof to
any person or circumstance is held unconstitutional or otherwise invalid, such invalidity
shall not affect other provisions or applications of this Ordinance that can be given effect
without the invalid application or provision, and each invalid application of this
Ordinance is severable.
SECTION 4: This Ordinance shall be in full force and effect beginning
thirty (30) days after passage.
SECTION 5: The findings and recitals contained herein are declared to
be prima facie evidence of the law of the City and shall be received in evidence as
provided by the Illinois Compiled Statutes and the courts of the State of Illinois.
Introduced: _________________, 2026
Adopted: ___________________, 2026
Approved:
__________________________, 2026
_______________________________
Daniel Biss, Mayor
Attest:
_______________________________
Stephanie Mendoza, City Clerk
Approved as to form:
______________________________
Alexandra B. Ruggie, Corporation Counsel
19-O-26
Page 6 of 6
April 21
June 8