Your landlord might be using an algorithm to raise rents. If Kamala Harris has her way, that could be banned.

Addressing the housing shortage

In addition to targeting landlords using price-setting algorithms, Harris backed another piece of legislation designed to crack down on Wall Street investors who buy homes in bulk. But these efforts would only address the housing crisis on the margins.

While rent-setting algorithms might be driving up prices in some markets, much bigger supply and demand forces are to blame for the broader affordability crisis. But it’s politically popular to go after Wall Street investors and landlords engaged in predatory behaviors. Republican lawmakers, including JD Vance, have supported cracking down on investors buying up homes.

“There’s sort of a belief that big landlords have more power than they actually do,” Jenny Schuetz, an expert on urban economics and housing policy at the Brookings Institute, told Business Insider. But, she added, trying to prevent these practices is not a bad idea. “The question is, what do you do at the end of the investigation, and is there actually action that’s going to help consumers.”

There’s a risk that regulating landlords, either in how they set rent or what homes they purchase, could backfire by reducing investment in homes and thus hurting supply. “If you actually cracked down really hard on private equity, it would be less capital going into this space, less capital going into investing in new homes,” Ben Metcalf, managing director of the Terner Center for Housing Innovation at UC Berkeley, told Business Insider.

Redfin’s chief economist, Daryl Fairweather, argued that Harris is prioritizing regulating predatory behavior by landlords as a way to appeal to first-time homebuyers and renters who feel taken advantage of and outcompeted in the market. It can be harder for the average voter to understand how supply and demand impact the cost of their housing, so Harris is targeting a clear adversary in addition to addressing the underlying issue of the housing shortage, she said. A large part of Harris’ housing plan focuses on boosting the supply of housing, with a pledge to build 3 million homes in four years.

“Harris is acknowledging the way that everyday people feel the housing market is broken,” Fairweather told Business Insider. “She’s addressing a lot of the specific concerns of first-time homebuyers who feel like they’re being out-competed by investors and their landlords are jacking up rent.”

Has your landlord raised your rent significantly? Are you willing to share your story? Reach out to this reporter at erelman@businessinsider.com.