The deputy student liaison to the College Park City Council on Aug. 6 urged the council to adopt an ordinance banning software that she said allows apartment developers to collude on rent prices to keep them high.

Amira Abujuma’s statement at the council meeting came in response to a request by Councilmember John Rigg (District 3) that the city send a letter to state legislators supporting possible legislative action against RealPage and other software companies that offer price-setting features based on algorithms. The council agreed to send that letter to the 21st District delegation and to discuss potential further action at a future meeting.

“Housing in College Park is not a luxury. It’s a necessity,” said Abujuma, a junior computer engineering and public policy major at the University of Maryland (UMD). “Access to affordable housing is essential, and RealPage is a threat to that.”

Three companies with local properties—Greystar Management Services, Bozzuto Management Co. and UDR Inc. (United Dominion Realty Trust)—and RealPage have been involved in lawsuits at the state and federal level.

Rigg said he brought the issue to the dais after residents in his district and a former UMD Student Government Association officer brought it to his attention.

The three companies own or manage seven apartment complexes in the area: The Varsity College Park, Union on Knox, Atworth, Monument Village at College Park, Domain and Aster in College Park, and Pilot House in Riverdale Park.

Abujuma described these apartment buildings as some of the city’s “largest and most influential properties” and called the use of RealPage “devastating … for the thousands of students who call College Park home.”

The average price of rent in College Park is 16% higher than the national average, at $1,894 per month, according to data from Apartments.com.

“It’s showing us that when prices are coordinated and inflated by monopolistic algorithms, our residents, students, workers and families will struggle to pay the high rent prices,” Abujuma said.

Councilmember Maria Mackie (District 4) suggested finding a way for the city to inform renters about how developers set rents for apartment complexes in the area.

And Rigg said people should understand that just a few landlords own large apartment complexes in the city, and several of them own multiple properties, increasing the “odd[s] of collusion and upward price pressure.”

Abujuma emphasized that the city has the authority to ban the software, and that a handful of other municipalities, including San Francisco, Seattle and Philadelphia, have passed ordinances to prohibit landlords from using algorithmic rent-setting software like RealPage.

“We do have the authority to do the same,” Abujuma said. “The council has the authority to pass ordinances in the interest of public welfare, including measures to protect renters, limit monopolistic behavior and ensure a fair housing market.”

Councilmember Ray Ranker (District 3) agreed.

“Sometimes … great ideas in Annapolis take five years to … pass,” Ranker said. “Are we willing to just sit and wait for something on other levels when there might be very good options to take locally?”

Abujuma suggested the city could take action besides banning the software entirely, like establishing data-sharing standards to prevent anti-competitive collaboration, but she advocated for the ban.

The city is licensed to use RealPage for market analysis, much like other governmental municipalities, Rigg said.

A complete ban on the use of the software could be hard for the city to monitor because developers can look at rent prices in surrounding areas that did not ban the software and set prices accordingly, he added.