Wisconsin Senate Bill SB142

Wisconsin 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 3/21/25
• Refer: 3/21/25
• Failed: 3/23/26

Caption

An Act to create 704.44 (11) and 704.60 of the statutes; Relating to: algorithmic software for residential housing, and providing a penalty.

Summary

SB142 would prohibit the use of “algorithmic software” in setting rent or occupancy levels for residential dwelling units, and would also prohibit any person from selling, licensing, or providing such software to a residential landlord. The bill defines algorithmic software broadly to include revenue management tools that use nonpublic competitor data about rents, occupancy rates, and lease timing to help landlords decide whether to leave units vacant or what rent to charge. It excludes certain aggregated rental data publications and software used to set rent or income limits under affordable housing programs. The bill also creates a new statutory remedy structure. The Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, the attorney general, or a district attorney could investigate alleged violations. The attorney general or a district attorney could seek injunctions and civil forfeitures of up to $1,000 per violation, with each month of a continuing violation and each affected dwelling unit treated as a separate offense. Tenants could bring civil actions individually or as class actions for actual damages, statutory damages of $1,000 per violation, injunctive relief, or both, and prevailing parties could recover costs and attorney fees. Lease terms that waive compliance with the prohibition or that discourage tenants from suing would be void and unenforceable.

Impact

If enacted, SB142 would add new landlord-tenant restrictions to Wisconsin statutes by creating s. 704.60 and amending s. 704.44 to invalidate lease provisions that attempt to waive the law or chill tenant enforcement. It would directly affect residential landlords, software vendors, and property management companies that use rent-setting or occupancy optimization tools based on nonpublic competitor data. The bill would also expand enforcement authority for state and local prosecutors and create a private right of action for tenants, increasing potential legal exposure for violations.

Sentiment

The available context shows the bill was introduced with a sizable group of Democratic senators and representatives as cosponsors, suggesting support from lawmakers concerned about housing affordability and rent-setting practices. There are no committee transcripts or recorded votes in the provided material, so no formal debate is captured here. The bill ultimately failed to pass pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 1, indicating it did not advance to enactment despite its introduction.

Contention

The main point of contention is likely the bill’s restriction on revenue management and pricing software used by landlords, which could be viewed by supporters as preventing coordinated or opaque rent inflation, but by opponents as limiting business tools and data-driven pricing in the housing market. Another likely dispute is the breadth of the definition of algorithmic software and the use of nonpublic competitor data, which may raise questions about how far the prohibition reaches and whether it could capture common property-management technologies. The private right of action, statutory damages, attorney fees, and voiding of lease provisions also create significant enforcement and litigation concerns for landlords and software providers.