Rockville became the first city in Maryland to ban algorithmic rental pricing when its city council approved a sweeping rewrite of the landlord-tenant code on Tuesday.

The ban takes effect Jan. 1, 2027.

"This is huge," Rockville Councilmember Barry Jackson said in a statement. "It will make a real impact and will serve to give momentum for other cities, the county and state legislative efforts."

The ordinance prohibits landlords from using software that collects public and private data to set rents or determine lease adjustments. The code update also expands relocation assistance for tenants and restricts certain payment and administrative charges.

Why Potomac residents should pay attention

The Rockville ban does not cover unincorporated Potomac, which falls under Montgomery County jurisdiction rather than any city government. No Montgomery County Council bill targeting algorithmic rent pricing has been publicly introduced. Jackson expressed hope the vote would encourage action at the county level, but no hearing date or bill number exists.

How algorithmic pricing works

The software at the center of the national debate, most notably a product made by RealPage Inc., uses occupancy rates, current rents, and confidential competitor data to recommend prices to landlords. A 2024 White House Council of Economic Advisors report found that such tools added an average of $70 per month to rent for units managed by their users. In 2023 alone, the algorithms cost American renters an estimated $3.8 billion, according to a Stateline analysis of the federal data.

The U.S. Department of Justice settled its antitrust case against RealPage in November 2025, barring the company from using real-time nonpublic data in its recommendations. Greystar, the nation's largest landlord, paid $50 million to settle a related class-action suit. On Monday, the DOJ announced another settlement with Willow Bridge Property Company, requiring it to stop sharing competitively sensitive information with rivals.

A growing national movement

Rockville joins Seattle, Portland, Minneapolis, San Francisco, Philadelphia, and Berkeley in banning the practice. Tom McBrien, counsel at the Electronic Privacy Information Center, estimated that 33 states have introduced bills seeking to ban or require disclosure of dynamic pricing.

What's next

Rockville Councilmember Adam Van Grack described the vote on X as a "major rewrite" of the city's landlord-tenant code that also strengthens code enforcement and increases transparency for tenants before they sign leases. The algorithmic pricing ban takes effect Jan. 1, 2027. Whether Montgomery County pursues similar protections for the roughly 1 million residents outside Rockville's borders remains an open question with no scheduled action.