[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 10110 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 10110
To require the disclosure of algorithmic price fixing in the housing
rental market, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
August 17, 2026
Ms. Castor of Florida introduced the following bill; which was referred
to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To require the disclosure of algorithmic price fixing in the housing
rental market, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Housing Price Transparency Act''.
SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT TO DISCLOSE ALGORITHMIC PRICE FIXING IN THE HOUSING
MARKET.
(a) Requirement To Disclose Algorithmic Price Fixing.--A person
that uses an algorithm to recommend or set prices for rental
accommodation shall clearly disclose that an algorithm was used to set
monthly rates.
(b) Enforcement by Federal Trade Commission.--
(1) Unfair or deceptive acts or practices.--A violation of
subsection (a) or a regulation promulgated under such
subsection shall be treated as a violation of a regulation
under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade Commission Act
(15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)) regarding unfair or deceptive acts or
practices.
(2) Powers of commission.--The Federal Trade Commission
shall enforce subsection (a) and any regulation promulgated
under such subsection in the same manner, by the same means,
and with the same jurisdiction, powers, and duties as though
all applicable terms and provisions of the Federal Trade
Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) were incorporated into
and made a part of this section. Any person who violates such
subsection or a regulation promulgated under such subsection
shall be subject to the penalties and entitled to the
privileges and immunities provided in the Federal Trade
Commission Act.
(c) Actions by States.--
(1) In general.--In any case in which the attorney general
of a State, or an official or agency of a State, has reason to
believe that an interest of the residents of such State has
been or is threatened or adversely affected by an act or
practice in violation of subsection (a) or a regulation
promulgated under such subsection, the State, as parens
patriae, may bring a civil action on behalf of the residents of
the State in an appropriate State court to--
(A) enjoin such act or practice;
(B) enforce compliance with such subsection or such
regulation;
(C) obtain damages, restitution, or other
compensation on behalf of residents of the State; or
(D) obtain such other legal and equitable relief as
the court may consider to be appropriate.
(2) Notice.--Before filing an action under this subsection,
the attorney general, official, or agency of the State involved
shall provide to the Federal Trade Commission a written notice
of such action and a copy of the complaint for such action. If
the attorney general, official, or agency determines that it is
not feasible to provide the notice described in this paragraph
before the filing of the action, the attorney general,
official, or agency shall provide written notice of the action
and a copy of the complaint to the Federal Trade Commission
immediately upon the filing of the action.
(3) Authority of federal trade commission.--
(A) In general.--On receiving notice under
paragraph (2) of an action under this subsection, the
Federal Trade Commission shall have the right--
(i) to intervene in the action;
(ii) upon so intervening, to be heard on
all matters arising therein; and
(iii) to file petitions for appeal.
(B) Limitation on state action while federal action
is pending.--If the Federal Trade Commission or the
Attorney General of the United States has instituted a
civil action for violation of subsection (a) or a
regulation promulgated under such subsection (referred
to in this subparagraph as the ``Federal action''), no
State attorney general, official, or agency may bring
an action under this subsection during the pendency of
the Federal action against any defendant named in the
complaint in the Federal action for any violation of
such subsection or regulation alleged in such
complaint.
(4) Rule of construction.--For purposes of bringing a civil
action under this subsection, nothing in this Act may be
construed to prevent an attorney general, official, or agency
of a State from exercising the powers conferred on the attorney
general, official, or agency by the laws of such State to
conduct investigations, administer oaths and affirmations, or
compel the attendance of witnesses or the production of
documentary and other evidence.
(d) Private Right of Action.--
(1) In general.--A person injured by an act or practice in
violation of subsection (a) or a regulation promulgated under
such subsection may bring in an appropriate district court of
the United States--
(A) an action to enjoin the violation;
(B) an action to recover damages for actual
monetary loss from the violation, or to receive not
less than $10,000 in damages for each such violation,
whichever is greater; or
(C) both such actions.
(2) Costs and attorney's fees.--The court shall award to a
prevailing plaintiff in an action under this subsection the
costs of such action and reasonable attorney's fees, as
determined by the court.
(3) Limitation.--An action may be commenced under this
subsection not later than 2 years after the date on which the
person first discovered or had a reasonable opportunity to
discover the violation.
(4) Nonexclusive remedy.--The remedy provided by this
subsection shall be in addition to any other remedies available
to the person.
(e) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Federal
Trade Commission.
(2) Pricing algorithm.--The term ``pricing algorithm''
means any computational process, including a computational
process derived from machine learning or other artificial
intelligence techniques, that processes data to recommend or
set a price or commercial term.
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