We believe that everyone has the right to safe, affordable housing. For far too many renters across Maryland, prices are out of control. One reason: private equity firms are working with landlords to stack the deck against hard-working Maryland tenants.

Private equity firms are using technology to fix prices to squeeze every dollar from renters to increase millionaires’ profits. Technology is used to collect data on rental prices and each day it recommends a new price for each empty rental unit using private data. This drives up prices and means one renter may pay a lot more for their apartment than their next-door neighbor.

HB434 prohibits the use of this type of software to fix prices behind closed doors. Landlords, out-of-state private equity firms, corporate realtors and their high-priced lobbyists are trying to kill this bill.

Take action to end predatory price-fixing!

Maryland is the 8th most difficult state in the country for low-income renters. In a December 2025 statewide survey, nearly 40% of renters reported paying 50% or more of their hard-earned income on rent.

Maryland’s Attorney General found that the use of this software increased rents by $1,334 a year–basically four months of groceries. At least 100,000 renters across Maryland were affected by the use of this software.

Price-fixing was wrong more than 100 years ago when it was first banned and it is wrong today – whether done by technology or in a back room. TAKE ACTION to help us end this practice.

Thank you for your voice, emails, and social media shares. YOUR actions help us to counter the corporate landlord lobby.

You can also download our fact sheet on HB434.