Written by State Rep. Mark Hart
Good news: rent prices are declining.
August marks the third straight month that monthly rental costs have come in below their 2024 levels. The market is doing exactly what it’s supposed to do — responding to supply, demand, and economic conditions.
Which begs the question: why did two Democrats in the Kentucky legislature try to ban the very technology that helps make that happen?
Earlier this year, before the General Assembly wrapped up its 2025 session, House Bill 358 was introduced by two Democratic lawmakers. Their proposal would have banned landlords from using rent pricing software — programs that analyze market data like supply, demand, amenities, and seasonal trends to help set competitive rates. They blamed the software for high rental prices, as though the tool itself were magically raising rents.
That’s nonsense. This software doesn’t “fix” prices any more than Kelley Blue Book forces up the cost of your car. It reports what the market is already saying — it doesn’t invent numbers out of thin air.
If these tools truly “fixed” rents, as the bill’s two Democratic sponsors allege, why are rental prices now declining?
The average one-bedroom rent statewide is just over $1,000 per month, far below the national average of $1,600, and in some parts of the state, rent is under $400. These vast disparities make one thing clear: software is not driving rents upward.
What was really inflating rental costs was the unchecked, government-induced inflation that’s driven up the price of just about everything else in the economy.
The real culprit in recent years has been government-fueled inflation. Washington pumped trillions into the economy during the pandemic, even as lockdowns froze construction and disrupted supply chains. Harvard researchers found housing completions plunged in 2020 thanks to labor shortages and shutdowns. The San Francisco Fed estimates stimulus alone added up to three percentage points to inflation.
Those policies sent the cost of everything, from gas to groceries to rent, through the roof. Even Obama-era economists like Larry Summers warned it would overheat the economy.
Now that inflation is easing and housing supply is adjusting, prices are coming back down. The market is correcting itself — exactly what free market does when politicians stay out of the way.
Banning rent pricing software would have done nothing to solve the real problem. In fact, it would have made things worse by forcing housing providers to fly blind, making pricing less competitive and less transparent.
History has already taught us what happens when politicians meddle with price-setting: rent control, resale caps, and other heavy-handed interventions cause shortages, reduce maintenance, and scare off investment in new housing. That is why the vast majority of economists oppose rent control.
House Bill 358 is dead, for now. But the fact that it was ever introduced should make Kentuckians wary. If every time something goes wrong our reflex is to ban it, we’ll end up with a weaker economy, fewer choices, and more people struggling to find a place to live.
Markets aren’t perfect, but they adjust. When politicians try to override them with bans and price controls, history shows they don’t just fail — they hurt the very people they claim to help.
Hopefully, Kentucky Democrats get the memo soon.
State Rep. Mark Hart (House District 78) lives in Falmouth.
