This story was produced as part of the Colorado Capitol News Alliance. It first appeared at .
Gov. Jared Polis on Thursday vetoed a measure that would have banned the use of many , saying it could have outlawed some legitimate technologies used by landlords, and risked driving some housing providers out of the market.
Rent-setting algorithms have become a target of consumer protection advocates in recent years, who say software used by companies like RealPage effectively enables landlords to collude and .
passed the legislature along party lines. A similar measure .
In his veto letter, Polis said he agreed with the intent of the bill, writing that 鈥渃ollusion between landlords for purposes of artificially constraining rental supply and increasing costs on renters is wrong.鈥�
But, he said, such practices are already illegal under Colorado鈥檚 Antitrust Act, and 鈥渧iolators should be held accountable鈥� under existing law.
鈥淲e should not inadvertently take a tool off the table that could identify vacancies and provide consumers with meaningful data to help efficiently manage residential real estate to ensure people can access housing,鈥� Polis wrote in . 鈥淭his bill may have unintended consequences of creating a hostile environment for providers of rental housing and could result in further diminished supply of rental housing based on inadequate data.
鈥淭he cost of rent is already too high,鈥� he wrote.
that RealPage鈥檚 algorithm compiled rent data from competitors, then used that data to recommend rent increases to its customers.
In Denver, a 2024 found that algorithm-based price coordination by landlords increased rent by as much as $136 a month.
joined the U.S. Department of Justice and seven other states in suing RealPage over the practice, alleging that its software amounts to price-fixing in violation of federal anti-trust laws.
The lawsuit quoted a landlord who described the product as 鈥渃lassic price-fixing鈥� 鈥� the practice of market competitors coordinating to charge more, rather than competing for customers.
鈥淚t鈥檚 absolutely reasonable for landlords to use certain data to do business,鈥� Deputy Attorney General Nathan Blake said at Colorado SunFest in May. 鈥淭his is not just simply using what you can find on Zillow or Redfin 鈥� publicly available information about rental prices. It was sharing non-public, sensitive, competitive information across a whole sector, with the effect of colluding to raise prices in the rental market.鈥�
RealPage, whose software is used by some of Colorado鈥檚 largest landlords, has denied the allegations.
House Bill 1004 was one of four bills Polis vetoed Thursday. That brings the number of bills passed by the legislature this year that he鈥檚 vetoed 鈥� breaking his single-year record of 10 set in 2023.
The other measures vetoed Thursday were:
- , which would have required that a driver licensed to operate commercial vehicles be behind the wheel of any autonomous commercial vehicles. 鈥淲hile we as a country have yet to see widespread adoption of autonomous commercial vehicles, deployment in Colorado presents potential opportunities for improving safety,鈥� Polis wrote in a letter explaining his veto. 鈥淪ince no other state has such a mandate, House Bill 1122 would effectively create a first-in-the-nation prohibition on autonomous commercial vehicle testing and operations.鈥� The governor pointed out that driver error is the leading cause of crashes and autonomous vehicles may be a way to cut down on injury and death.
- , which would have prohibited the state from imposing copayments on medical care for people in Colorado prisons. 鈥淚 appreciate the bill sponsors鈥� efforts to address the cost of health care related copayments for incarcerated individuals in DOC facilities,鈥� the governor wrote in a letter explaining his veto. 鈥淗owever, the changes directed by this bill reflect a degree of micromanagement of DOC operations that I cannot support, and are better addressed though internal policy changes.鈥� He added that the Colorado Department of Corrections is already limited to charging a maximum of $5 for copays. The governor signed an executive order Thursday ordering the DOC to review its copayment policies and procedures to reduce the charges.
- , which would have limited how much ambulance services can charge for transporting patients and required health insurance companies to cover the cost, minus deductibles or copays. It would also have required ambulance services to post their reimbursement rates online. Polis said he vetoed the bill because it would have raised insurance premiums by as much as $2.15 per person per month. 鈥淎dditionally, the bill contains several drafting issues that render it unimplementable in its current form,鈥� the governor wrote in his veto letter.
More vetoes may be coming.
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