Bill Text: NY A10020 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Prohibits landlords from using, or contracting for the use of, algorithmic devices to set the amount of rent to charge a residential tenant; imposes additional disclosure requirements regarding a landlord's collection and use of a tenant's personal information.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-05-01 - referred to housing [A10020 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-A10020-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          10020

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                       May 1, 2024
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  M.  of  A. L. ROSENTHAL -- read once and referred to the
          Committee on Housing

        AN ACT to amend the general business law, in relation to prohibiting the
          use of algorithmic pricing by a landlord for the purpose of  determin-
          ing the amount of rent to charge a residential tenant

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. The general business law is amended by adding a new section
     2  344 to read as follows:
     3    § 344. Use of pricing algorithmic in setting rent  amount  prohibited.
     4  1.  For the purposes of this section, the following terms shall have the
     5  following meanings:
     6    (a)  "Pricing algorithm" shall mean any computational process, includ-
     7  ing a computational process derived from machine learning or other arti-
     8  ficial intelligence techniques, that processes data to recommend or  set
     9  a price or commercial term that is in or affecting interstate or foreign
    10  commerce.
    11    (b)  "Coordinator"  shall  mean  any  operator  of  a software or data
    12  analytics service that performs a coordinating function  for  any  land-
    13  lord,  including  a landlord performing a coordinating function for such
    14  landlord's own benefit.
    15    (c) "Nonpublic competitor data":
    16    (i) shall mean nonpublic  data  that  is  derived  from  or  otherwise
    17  provided by another person that competes in the same market as a person,
    18  or a related market; and
    19    (ii)  does not include information distributed, reported, or otherwise
    20  communicated in a way that does not reveal any underlying  data  from  a
    21  competitor,  such  as narrative industry reports, news reports, business
    22  commentaries, or generalized industry survey results.
    23    (d) "Nonpublic data" shall mean information that is not widely  avail-
    24  able  or  easily  accessible  to the public, including information about
    25  actual rent prices, occupancy rates, lease  start  and  end  dates,  and
    26  similar  data,  regardless  of  whether  such  data is attributable to a
    27  specific competitor or anonymized.

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD14977-02-4
        A. 10020                            2

     1    2. (a) In setting the amount of rent to be charged to a tenant for the
     2  occupancy of a residential premises, including determining any change in
     3  the amount of rent to be charged for the renewed occupancy of a residen-
     4  tial premises, a landlord shall not employ, use, or rely upon, or  cause
     5  another person to employ, use, or rely upon, an algorithmic pricing that
     6  uses, incorporates, or was trained with nonpublic competitor data.
     7    (b) A coordinator shall not facilitate an agreement among landlords to
     8  not compete regarding the renting of residential premises.
     9    3.  (a)  A  landlord shall not share a tenant's personal data with any
    10  third party without such tenant's written consent.
    11    (b) A landlord shall disclose to each tenant:
    12    (i) the categories of personal data processed by the landlord  and  by
    13  any processor who processes personal data on behalf of such landlord;
    14    (ii) the sources from which personal data is collected;
    15    (iii) the purposes for processing personal data;
    16    (iv)  the  landlord's  retention  period for each category of personal
    17  data that such landlord processes or which is processed  on  such  land-
    18  lord's  behalf,  or if that is not possible, the criteria used to deter-
    19  mine such retention period; and
    20    (v) the identity of each third party to whom the  landlord  disclosed,
    21  shared,  transferred,  or  sold  personal  data, and for each identified
    22  third party:
    23    (A) the categories of personal data being  shared,  disclosed,  trans-
    24  ferred, or sold to the third party;
    25    (B)  the  purposes for which personal data is being shared, disclosed,
    26  transferred, or sold to the third party;
    27    (C) the third party's retention period for each category  of  personal
    28  data  processed  by  such third party or processed on such third party's
    29  behalf, or if that is not possible, the criteria used to determine  such
    30  retention period; and
    31    (D) whether the third party uses the personal data for targeted adver-
    32  tising.
    33    4.  In  addition  to  any action brought by the attorney general under
    34  this article, a tenant injured by a violation of this section may  bring
    35  an  action to recover damages. A court may also award attorneys' fees to
    36  a prevailing plaintiff tenant.
    37    § 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day  after  it  shall
    38  have  become  a  law  and  shall  apply  to any rental agreement that is
    39  executed on or after the effective date of this act.