Original research · LegiScan state bill data plus the bill texts, read by hand · Last updated September 29, 2026
Data through: state bills and their status as of September 29, 2026. Laws change fast in this area, so check the official text before you act.
The short answer: Eight state laws now limit how businesses use software to set prices or rents. Most small businesses aren’t touched. The ones that are: landlords who use rent-setting software, grocery and retail stores, food delivery apps, and anyone who changes a price based on who the customer is. New York’s broad ban on “surveillance pricing” passed the legislature in June and is waiting on Governor Hochul, who has to act by December 31, 2026.
Key findings
- 78 bills in 25 states and DC (2025-26) were mainly about pricing or rent-setting software. That’s from our keyword screen of LegiScan. We found three more laws, and one Connecticut amendment, by hand. The screen missed them because their titles never mention algorithms.
- Eight laws in five states are on the books: California, Connecticut (two, plus a 2026 follow-up law that rewrote part of one), Maryland, New Jersey (two) and New York (two). 66 of the 78 bills never passed a single chamber.
- Rent software is the biggest target. New York, New Jersey and Connecticut banned landlords from using software that pools other landlords’ private rent data to set rents. California’s law covers any shared pricing algorithm used to fix prices, rents included.
- “Surveillance pricing” is the new fight. That means charging you more based on your personal data, like your browsing, location or shopping history. Connecticut, Maryland and New Jersey ban it for groceries or retail, starting between October 2026 and August 2027. New York makes businesses label it.
- New York may go much further. The One Fair Price Act would ban most surveillance pricing statewide. It passed both chambers on June 4, 2026 and is waiting on the governor.
What the words mean
- Common pricing algorithm: software that suggests or sets prices using data from two or more competitors. If you and the shop across the street both feed it your prices, it can push you both to the same higher price without you ever talking.
- Rent algorithm, “revenue management device” or “coordinator”: the same idea for apartments. The software takes nonpublic rent and occupancy data from many landlords and tells each one what to charge.
- Surveillance pricing: charging one person a different price than another based on their personal data. Examples are a higher price because you live in a certain ZIP code, shopped recently, or use a pricier phone.
- What is usually still fine: sales, coupons, loyalty discounts, and changing prices because your costs or demand changed. Setting your own prices with your own data is fine too. Each law words its exceptions a little differently.
The laws on the books
Every law below was checked against its final text or the legislature’s record. Click the bill number to see it.
| State | Law | Who it hits | What it means for you | Starts | How it’s enforced |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | AB 325 | Any business that sets prices, and anyone selling pricing software | You can’t use or share a “common pricing algorithm” (software fed with competitors’ data) as part of a deal to fix prices, and you can’t pressure someone into using the price it suggests. It also makes these antitrust cases easier to bring to court. | Jan 1, 2026 | State antitrust law (Cartwright Act): state enforcement and private lawsuits |
| New York | S 3008, Part X | Any business that sets a customer’s price using that person’s own data | Show this notice next to the price: “THIS PRICE WAS SET BY AN ALGORITHM USING YOUR PERSONAL DATA.” Some insurers, banks and subscription discounts are exempt. | Nov 10, 2025 (enforcement began) | Attorney General; warning letter first, then up to $1,000 per violation |
| New York | S 7882 | Landlords and rental software companies | Landlords can’t use software that sets or suggests rents by pooling data from two or more landlords. Government affordable-housing tools are excluded. | Mid-December 2025 (60 days after Oct 16 signing) | State antitrust law |
| Connecticut | HB 8002, Sec. 32 | Landlords | You can’t use a “revenue management device” (software fed with other landlords’ private data) to set rents or occupancy levels. | Jan 1, 2026 | Unfair trade practice |
| Connecticut | SB 4 as changed by HB 5563 | Retail stores (including grocery stores and other retail food sellers) and food delivery apps; any business pricing online | Stores and delivery apps can’t use “surveillance pricing” (charging you more based on your personal data). Other businesses that do it online must show: “THIS PRICE WAS INCREASED USING YOUR PERSONAL DATA.” Loyalty programs, posted discounts and price changes based on cost or supply and demand are allowed. | July 1, 2027 (surveillance pricing section) | Unfair trade practice (CUTPA) |
| Maryland | HB 895 | Food stores of 15,000+ sq. ft. and food delivery apps | You can’t use personal data or dynamic pricing to charge one shopper more than another for food that is exempt from sales tax (basic groceries). | Oct 1, 2026 | Attorney General, with 45 days to fix a problem; no private lawsuits |
| New Jersey | A 3497 (FAIR Act) | Landlords and rent software companies | Landlords can’t pay for or use a rent “coordinator” (software or a service that pools landlords’ data to set rents), and can’t coordinate rents with each other. | July 1, 2027 | New Jersey Antitrust Act |
| New Jersey | A 4085 (Fair Price Protection Act) | Grocery and household-goods sellers | No surveillance pricing on groceries and household items. A one-year pause on putting in new electronic shelf labels. Prepared food at restaurants is not covered. | Shelf-label pause Feb 1, 2027; pricing ban Aug 1, 2027 | State consumer law |
Also relevant: Connecticut’s HB 5222 made clean-up changes to SB 4. New York’s rent law and California’s AB 325 cover the software companies too, not just their customers.
Waiting on a signature, and what’s next
- New York One Fair Price Act (S 8623-B / A 9349-B). Passed both chambers June 4, 2026. It would ban most surveillance pricing in the state 180 days after it’s signed, with penalties up to $5,000 for a first violation and $20,000 after that. Loyalty programs and discounts open to everyone would still be allowed. Governor Hochul must sign or veto it by December 31, 2026, and a signed bill could still be changed by a follow-up “chapter amendment.” Sources: NY Attorney General, NY Assembly, WBEN.
- New York City has its own surveillance pricing bill (Int. 891-2026), still pending.
- Federal: On August 19, 2026 the Federal Trade Commission proposed a policy statement on personalized pricing. It’s a proposal, not a rule.
- California bills that stalled: SB 52, SB 295 and SB 384, which aimed at pricing and rent software, did not pass.
What to do if you run a small business
If you’re a landlord or property manager
- Check what your rent software does. If it pulls in other landlords’ private rent or vacancy data to suggest your rents, stop using that feature in New York and Connecticut now, and in New Jersey by July 1, 2027. In California, don’t use it with other landlords to agree on rents.
- Setting rents from public listings, your own records, or a local rent survey is still fine.
- Ask your software vendor in writing which data their pricing tool uses.
If you run a store, grocery or delivery service
- Don’t charge different people different prices based on their personal data in Connecticut (from July 2027), New Jersey groceries (from August 2027), or Maryland large food stores and delivery apps (from October 2026).
- Store-wide sales, coupons and loyalty prices are fine under these laws.
- In New Jersey, hold off on new electronic shelf labels during the pause that starts February 1, 2027.
If you sell online anywhere
- If your site or app shows New York customers a price based on their personal data, show the required notice. If the One Fair Price Act is signed, plan to stop the practice there instead.
- If you use a price-matching or “dynamic pricing” tool, find out whether it uses competitors’ private data or customer profiles. Those are the two things these laws target.
This page is general information, not legal advice. For your own situation, ask a lawyer in your state.
More on AI laws for small businesses:
Pricing and rent-algorithm bills by state, 2025-26
Count of bills from our keyword screen whose main topic is pricing or rent-setting software. A star (*) marks a law we added by hand because the screen missed it.
| State | Bills | Laws |
|---|---|---|
| New York | 15 | S 3008 Part X and S 7882 (laws); One Fair Price Act passed, awaiting governor |
| Illinois | 9 | None |
| New Jersey | 8 | A 3497 (law); also A 4085* |
| Virginia | 5 | None |
| California | 4 | AB 325 (law) |
| Connecticut | 4 | SB 4 (law); also HB 8002 and HB 5563* |
| Maryland | 4 | HB 895* |
| Rhode Island | 3 | None |
| Arizona | 2 | None |
| Iowa | 2 | None |
| Kentucky | 2 | None |
| Massachusetts | 2 | None |
| Ohio | 2 | None |
| Tennessee | 2 | None |
| Texas | 2 | None |
| Wisconsin | 2 | None |
| District of Columbia | 1 | None |
| Georgia | 1 | None |
| Hawaii | 1 | None |
| Idaho | 1 | None |
| Maine | 1 | None |
| North Carolina | 1 | None |
| New Mexico | 1 | None |
| Oklahoma | 1 | None |
| Pennsylvania | 1 | None |
| Vermont | 1 | None |
Methods and sources
- Bill data: LegiScan’s national database, 2025 and 2026 state sessions, pulled September 29, 2026. We searched AI and algorithm terms and tagged bills by topic with keywords. 78 state bills had pricing or rent-setting software as their main topic.
- Checking the laws: We read the text or legislature record for every bill marked as law. We dropped New York A 3005 from this topic (a budget bill that isn’t a pricing law). We added three laws the keyword screen missed (Connecticut HB 8002, Maryland HB 895 and New Jersey A 4085), plus Connecticut HB 5563, which rewrote SB 4’s surveillance pricing section.
- Limits: A keyword screen can miss bills. Dates and details can change with later amendments. This is not legal advice.
- Other sources: Greenberg Traurig, “Algorithmic Pricing Under Fire” (Sept 2026); New York Attorney General; New York State Assembly.
- Bill data courtesy of LegiScan (CC BY 4.0). The sorting and summaries are ours.