Georgia lawmaker pushes rent reform, targets hidden fees and AI pricing

In a tirade of affordability legislation, state Rep. Gabriel Sanchez, D-Smyrna, has garnered support and introduced several pieces of legislation to address housing affordability issues and protect renters.

Sanchez recently introduced House Bill 1188, which would prohibit landlords from withholding the full rental price of a property and from charging hidden fees. The goal of the legislation is to increase transparency and fairness in residential rent pricing, according to the news release.

“Georgia is one of the worst states to be a renter, and hidden fees only deepen housing insecurity for working class people,” Sanchez said in the release.

In an interview with Sanchez, he said he is continuing his work on housing bills from the last legislative session.

“We introduced last year House Bill 679 in particular, which got a hearing, which bans the use of AI software to artificially increase rents, which has been a huge issue, especially here in Georgia, including my own apartment complex that I live in,” he said.

House Bill 864 would require more transparency from corporations about their ownership of single-family homes, and Sanchez said the bill would end ownership of single-family homes by major corporations.

“I mean, obviously people are really, really struggling right now,” Sanchez said. “We have to make systemic change and have a government that actually works for the people, not just those at the top.”

House Bill 1188 and 679 have been referred to the Judiciary Committee, and House Bill 864 has been referred to the Governmental Affairs Committee.

“There’s a lot of work that needs to be done to take back our government and make it actually representative of the people and create a government and economy that works for all of us,” he said.