The FAIR Act targets software-assisted coordination among landlords but does not cap rents or prohibit ordinary property-management tools.
TRENTON, N.J. New Jersey has enacted a law prohibiting landlords and software companies from using competitors’ confidential information to coordinate residential rents and other lease terms.
Gov. Mikie Sherrill signed the Facilitating Algorithmic Pricing Accountability and Regulation Act, known as the FAIR Act, on Monday. The measure, S451/A3497, brings algorithmic rent coordination within the scope of the New Jersey Antitrust Act.
“Landlords, who should be competing to provide the best price to renters, are instead colluding to drive prices up through so called ‘algorithmic pricing.’ That stops now. As we continue our whole-of-government approach to addressing our housing crisis, this legislation is another important step toward making our state more affordable,” said Governor Mikie Sherrill.
Under the final legislation, a residential property owner or its representative may not pay for or use a coordinating service that relies on competitively sensitive, nonpublic information from multiple property owners to recommend rents, occupancy levels or other lease terms. Software providers also may not facilitate an agreement, including an implied agreement, among competing landlords.
“As these algorithms increase in popularity, they contribute to an increasingly unaffordable housing market, placing undue financial strain on renters and exacerbating the housing crisis in New Jersey,” said Assemblywoman Lopez (D-Middlesex), Chair of the Assembly Housing Committee. “We cannot let New Jersey families fall prey to predatory practices – intentional or otherwise – enabled by technology.”
The law is narrower than a general ban on artificial intelligence or pricing software. It excludes ordinary spreadsheets that require human analysis, publicly available rent estimates, property-listing databases, government affordability programs and research or testing that does not involve coordinating actual market decisions.
It also does not set rent ceilings, require landlords to reduce rents or prohibit an owner from independently changing a price. Its focus is the exchange and use of private competitive information among otherwise competing owners.
“Companies that feed data into algorithms for landlords to collude and artificially inflate rents are violating our antitrust laws and squeezing tenants in the process. These are not your neighborhood landlord—they are large corporations making money hand over fist and forcing people out of their communities,” said Senator Brian Stack (D-Hudson). “Housing is not a luxury; it’s a necessity, and prohibiting the use of this software by landlords to increase rents will help ensure the market remains fair, competitive, and within reach for New Jersey families.”
Violations will be enforceable through New Jersey’s existing antitrust laws. The act also prevents municipalities from adopting conflicting local requirements.
The statute takes effect on the first day of the 12th month following enactment, placing its effective date on July 1, 2027. Landlords therefore have nearly a year to examine whether outside pricing, revenue-management or occupancy systems fall within the law’s definitions.
The governor’s office described New Jersey as the fourth state to regulate this form of rental-pricing coordination. The policy arrives amid broader federal scrutiny. In 2025, the U.S. Justice Department reached a proposed settlement with Greystar requiring the large landlord to stop using competitors’ confidential information through certain shared pricing systems.
For renters, the immediate effect is regulatory rather than a guaranteed change in monthly rent. The act creates a new basis for enforcement when pricing decisions result from prohibited coordination, but it does not prescribe what an independently determined rent must be.