A slew of Maryland economists, housing experts, and civil rights activists criticized Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown’s January lawsuit against RealPage, a rent price software company used by the state’s landlords. While Brown argued that the software is a tool used for price-fixing, these Maryland influencers argued that the technology merely analyzes and reports on what the rental market is currently bearing. They fear that attacking software will ultimately raise prices for the state’s low-income families.
Writing for The Baltimore Sun, David J. Byrd, an Upper Marlboro civil rights activist who served as a Deputy Assistant Secretary in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, accused AG Brown of “scapegoating technology for high rental prices.”
“Blaming software for the high price of rent is akin to blaming the thermometer because you have a fever,” he wrote. “The simple truth is that the government could outlaw this software tomorrow and rents would stay the same as no software can extinguish the law of supply and demand.”
Byrd continued by stating that “eliminating this software might even increase prices because it may cause some owners to pull their properties from the market” — a move that he argued “would exacerbate Maryland’s current housing shortage, making the properties that remain available to renters more expensive.”
The Frederick Douglass Freedom Alliance, a grassroots organization dedicated to supporting and strengthening the Black family and promoting economic opportunity for all, echoed Byrd’s concerns about the suit potentially leading to higher rent prices.
“We are concerned that Attorney General Brown’s lawsuit against straightforward rental pricing software will make it even more difficult for Black families to rise above their state’s alarming housing access and affordability crisis,” Troy Rolling the President and CEO of the organization wrote in a press release.
“Maryland has become one of the most challenging states for low-income minority communities to secure affordable housing,” he continued. “That is why we are so concerned about Attorney General Brown’s lawsuit, which we fear is doubling down on the same failed policies of the past that got us to where we are today.”
Jay Ezrielev, a Bethesda-based economist and former economic adviser to the Federal Trade Commission, also called the suit misplaced and provided alternative solutions that Maryland policymakers can implement to make the housing market more affordable.
“The solution to the housing affordability problem is to expand the supply of housing. The lawsuit does nothing to expand the supply of housing. Therefore, it will not make housing more affordable,” he said. “Maryland should focus its resources on developing policies to expand the supply of housing rather than wasting resources distracting the public from policies that decreased housing affordability.”
written by: Jane Faulk for TriceEdneyWire.com