Initiative 26-01: rent-setting software

What we get

It would add a new chapter to the City code. Landlords could not agree with each other on rents, could not pay for or use "coordinating services" (software that pools rent and occupancy data from several landlords and recommends rents, renewal terms or occupancy), and companies could not offer those services to multiple landlords. Recordkeeping tools, reports of past rents that don't recommend future rents, appraisal and financing research, and estimates built only from public data are exempt. Hotels, motels and short-term rentals are not covered.

What it costs

The initiative text sets the penalties: a civil fine of up to $5,000 per violation, and for a second or willful violation a misdemeanor of up to $5,000, 90 days in jail, or both. Each affected unit, and each year a violation continues, can count as a separate violation. A tenant or other injured person can sue and recover up to $5,000 per violation, 3 times actual damages, and attorney fees and costs (the text lists all three; how they combine is not spelled out); an employee punished for reporting can recover $7,500. We found no City estimate of what enforcement would cost.

Timeline

• June 26Backers deliver petition signatures to City Hall
• July 13Council reviews the initiative and chooses to send it to voters
• July 27Council adopts Resolution 2026-18 placing it on the ballot (AB 24990)
• Oct. 19Council adopts a resolution supporting it, 7-0 (Resolution 2026-25, AB 25088) (City Action Summary)
• Nov. 3Election

How to weigh in: Vote by Nov. 3. Drop boxes close at 8 p.m.; mailed ballots need a Nov. 3 postmark.

The question: What would it cost the City Attorney's office to investigate and prosecute complaints, and how would anyone show a landlord used a coordinating service?

Initiative text (petition) · City Attorney explanatory statement · Resolution 2026-18