And Gov Polis just vetoed the algorithmic price fixing ban too, on the grounds that landlord have to be able to collude or there might not be enough housing: coloradosun.com/2025/05/29/j... - ThreadSky

ddayen.bsky.social • 2 days ago

And Gov Polis just vetoed the algorithmic price fixing ban too, on the grounds that landlord have to be able to collude or there might not be enough housing:
https://coloradosun.com/2025/05/29/jared-polis-vetoes-bill-rent-setting-software-algorithms-realpage/

Comments

rabinpw.bsky.social•2 days ago

@samseder.bsky.social

BOB LIVES!

milehighlefty.bsky.social•2 days ago

Another corporate-backed moderate who prioritizes big business profits over working people's best interests. Colorado needs a Progressive governor. Hint: it's not bennet.

greaseweights.bsky.social•1 day ago

Do you mean someone like Phil Murphy? Who has overseen a much worse housing crisis than Colorado and has colluded with the Trump administration? Colorado progressives in Boulder have the highest rents in the state and I would prefer for that to not spread to the rest of Colorado.

saoirsens.bsky.social•2 days ago

the cost of housing is only slightly more worrisome than the quality of housing. The whole market is rotten.

amberbrainz.bsky.social•2 days ago

He's an abundance lib and getting on my last nerve. He also vetoed our union law too. He's been veto happy.

triggerloop.bsky.social•2 days ago

I feel like we need to collude against Jareds in politics

lakebiglake.bsky.social•2 days ago

I don’t see how it’s price fixing. Landlords’ asking rents are publicized online. Back in the day they were in the newspaper. An individual landlord can tolerate only so much vacancy before they drop their price. A landlord won’t hold a unit vacant so a competitor can make more money.

deannatheanalyst.bsky.social•2 days ago

It absolutely is, and it causes artificial inflation of rent rates. There was a great video explaining it years ago, but I can't find it. This one offers a so-so explanation, if you're curious.
https://youtu.be/EUIMRAHNemw?si=tuNv68CZrmQSarKS

ddayen.bsky.social•2 days ago

They are aggregating proprietary information. It's not what's in the newspaper.

lakebiglake.bsky.social•2 days ago

For consumer protection, I’d rather see a law that says the price that’s advertised (or agreed upon, if less) is the price the tenant pays. No bullshit “fees” that can add hundreds a month to rental costs.

greaseweights.bsky.social•1 day ago

So you think that it should be illegal for a farmer to walk around a farmers market to see how much other people are selling their produce for and set their prices based on that?

ddayen.bsky.social•1 day ago

I think it should be illegal for a farmer to together with other farmers in a room, tell them how much they're growing this year, the expected yields, past sales per item of produce, and then use that to set prices broadly.
That's what RealPage does, only instead of the room it's an algorithm.

lakebiglake.bsky.social•1 day ago

The U.S. Department of Agriculture publishes data on projected plantings, actual plantings, yields, past production and so on for each crop. This is public information.
Price fixing occurs only if farmers collude to manipulate the market, withholding inventory if necessary.

ddayen.bsky.social•1 day ago

There's literally an active federal lawsuit charging information exchange Agri Stats with collecting proprietary, competitively sensitive Ag producer information (well beyond USDA data) & distributing it to clients, to enable them to raise prices.
Like, pay attention.
https://www.justice.gov/d9/2023-10/416782.pdf

ddayen.bsky.social•1 day ago

Your simple folk wisdom about how this works is just ignorance. RealPage is a price-fixing tool, and its executives and employees encourage clients to use it to fix prices.
https://prospect.org/economy/2024-06-05-three-algorithms-in-a-room/

greaseweights.bsky.social•1 day ago

Again, gathering information about the market and making decisions based on it is not price fixing. What you are describing is just like the current gold market for example. What you are describing is like a homebuyer shopping around and gauging the state of the market before buying a house.

greaseweights.bsky.social•1 day ago

You don't seem to really understand what price-fixing means. Obviously they encourage their clients to follow their suggestions, do you think that a financial advisor would tell you that you shouldn't follow their advice? Aggregating information about the market is not price-fixing.

killerbuni.bsky.social•2 days ago

Rent aggregators are classic price fixing. Having a computer do it for you instead of a person doesn't change that.

goldstar971.bsky.social•2 days ago

except when you have an algorithm collectively encouraging you to never lower rents.

lakebiglake.bsky.social•2 days ago

You could never lower rent with or without an algorithm. The real issue is the vacancy rate.

goldstar971.bsky.social•2 days ago

monopolies raise prices.

lakebiglake.bsky.social•2 days ago

If there’s price fixing with residential rent, the issue isn’t an algorithm. It’s the willingness of landlords to collude, and to be willing to hold inventory off the market if necessary. With a perishable commodity like an apartment, this is unlikely.

goldstar971.bsky.social•1 day ago

we have literally documented evidence of real page being used for price fixing. that is in fact it's entire purpose. and that's the reason the DOJ was investigating and why they got sued by private groups.
https://www.propublica.org/article/yieldstar-rent-increase-realpage-rent

nhtiek.bsky.social•2 days ago

Pretty sure we’ve got the “not enough housing” part dialed in already.

jasonwoods.bsky.social•2 days ago

Magical thinking.

deannatheanalyst.bsky.social•2 days ago

It wasn't just colluding, it was price-fixing and artificially inflating rent.

ddayen.bsky.social•2 days ago

It's a common claim often made by the financial services industry when defending overdraft fees or whatever. "You have to let us rip people off or there won't be any access to credit"

ddayen.bsky.social•2 days ago

People are mystified by skepticism from anti-monopolists towards Abundance, and then Abundance-friendly politicians give financiers a license to steal. It's not that complicated.

phillip-wiles.bsky.social•2 days ago

Last night I saw a thread of Mark Cuban turning himself into a pretzel, trying to defend AI as being good thing for workers.

phillip-wiles.bsky.social•2 days ago

https://bsky.app/profile/mcuban.bsky.social/post/3lqbo2zf4rk2m

rogergathmann.bsky.social•2 days ago

Someone can do "them self"? We don't need Ai, we just need "edit".

rationalpear.bsky.social•2 days ago

polis is the future of the democratic party. not my choice, but all the leaders, consultants, funders, former republicans from the suburbs want it to become the pro-business, conservative, free trade, deregulation (see abundance bros), internationalist party with a slightly better social safety net

nberlat.bsky.social•2 days ago

I mean, his pro RFK statements pretty much torpedoed his presidential bid.

so...I mean, not that he won't be *a* future, but there's significant pushback.

rationalpear.bsky.social•2 days ago

yeah. for now. if he tried to have a rally outside CO no one would show up, except for maybe some protestors. major party realignment is happening now. new coalitions around new issues and policies are forming. Dems are headed for European style conservative party or new deal R party.

nberlat.bsky.social•2 days ago

really don't think that's what's happening at all. but we'll see.

hession.bsky.social•2 days ago

I’m pretty Abundance curious and read your piece about housing but wondering what price fixing cartels have to do with Abundance? I don’t see how that philosophy requires permitting something like this.

greene.haus•2 days ago

It doesn’t. It definitely doesn’t. (I have my problems with the authors of the book and their arguments, but a typical YIMBY perspective treats mobilized homeowners as a cartel in need of breaking up.)

ddayen.bsky.social•2 days ago

All I'm saying is that the politicians most associated with the movement keep permitting things like this!