Committee sends ordinance banning algorithmic rental price coordination to full council after amendments

Portland’s Homelessness and Housing Committee on Oct. 7 voted to send an ordinance to the full City Council that would prohibit anti‑competitive rental practices, including algorithmic services that coordinate pricing among competing landlords.

The committee voted to replace the ordinance’s Exhibit A and then moved the amended ordinance to the full council with a recommendation to pass; both procedural actions passed on 3‑1 roll calls (Vice Chair Dunfee — aye; Councilor Ryan — no; Councilor Maria Murillo — aye; Councilor Avalos — aye). The vote sends Ordinance Document No. 2025‑045, as amended, to the full council; it is not final city law.

Why it matters: sponsors say the measure is intended to protect renters from coordinated pricing that raises rents and holds units off the market. Councilor Maria Murillo, who sponsored the ordinance, said she pulled the item earlier in the year to sharpen the language and bring a narrower, legally durable version back to committee. Policy adviser Susie Duister gave the committee a refresher on the issue, citing federal and state antitrust principles and studies that, she said, show algorithmic coordination can lift rents across markets. Duister told the committee: “This is something that’s been illegal for over 100 years at the…