Relates to the use of automated decision tools by landlords for making housing decisions

• Democratic8

◆ The sponsor's argument

Why Cordell Cleare says this is needed

With the proliferation of artificial intelligence toots, more sectors are retying on their assistance to make decisions. Artificial intelli- gence tools are being utilized by landlords to screen applications submitted by potential tenants. Taking into consideration a potential tenant's credit, rental history, employment and other information, these tools assign a score to each candidate that landlords use in selecting tenants. If these tools have built-in biases, applicants may not be considered for an apartment. While efforts have been made to combat housing discrimination, the emergence of these tools has presented a new oppor- tunity for discrimination by a computer algorithm. This bill would require that any automated housing decision making tools that are used in the selection of tenants must undergo a disparate impact analysis to ensure that they are not likely to result in an adverse impact to potential renters based on their sex, race, ethnicity or other protected class. This legislation would also require that applicants be informed of the use of any automated decision tools used in the screening process and be provided an explanation if they have been rejected due to such assessment.

This is the sponsor's own case for the bill, quoted from their memorandum. It is not Agora's description of what the bill does.