FTC Plans To Make Rental Housing Fee Disclosure Rule Following Greystar Settlement

The Federal Trade Commission announced it is initiating a rulemaking process regarding deceptive fees in the rental housing industry, along with a $24M lawsuit-ending agreement with the country’s largest multifamily property manager.

Greystar agreed to pay $23M to the FTC and $1M to the state of Colorado and to clearly and conspicuously display total monthly leasing prices and mandatory fees. The agreement concludes the lawsuit the FTC brought against Greystar this year and clarifies the FTC's position on rental fee disclosure. 

Advertising a rental price that excludes mandatory charges is illegal, the FTC warned rental housing operators in a blog post on Monday. The post tells property managers to “advertise the total cost of renting your unit up front,” a seeming deviation from the industry norm of disclosing all fees during the lease agreement stage.

“Consumers shouldn’t have to wait until they sign a lease or get their first month’s bill to learn what it will actually cost to live in a rental,” the blog post states.

The FTC’s actions appear to indicate the agency's willingness to regulate rental housing costs and fees and standardize their disclosure, the National Apartment Association said in a statement to Bisnow.

The association is examining the trend as a proactive measure and “encourages members to consult their local counsel with questions related to fee transparency.” 

FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson said in a statement that he has directed commission staff to begin the process of proposing a rule to address unfair or deceptive fees in rental housing.

Rental housing was left out of the FTC’s final rule in December 2024 that banned tactics used to bury so-called junk fees in the short-term lodging and live event-ticketing industries. During the rulemaking process, the NAA and National Multifamily Housing Council argued that rental housing isn't based on a single-point transaction like buying a hotel room or a ticket to an event.

But the rental housing industry has been moving toward fee transparency for years, and particularly over the past 18 months, said Kevin Donnelly, executive director of the Real Estate Technology & Transformation Center.

“We believe it’s part of an ongoing conversation between policymakers and the rental housing industry,” Donnelly said. “We continue to advocate for sensible regulation. Fee transparency is something we all strive for.” 

Rental housing stock across the country is extremely fragmented and operates diversely, with a wide range of housing providers and technological capabilities.

“So we do need some regulatory flexibility as this industry moves toward fee transparency and implements tools such as [Multifamily Information Transaction Standards] 5.0,” Donnelly said. 

In its blog post, the FTC recommends that operators review websites and advertisements, including those from third-party vendors, to confirm they advertise a rental’s price, including all mandatory fees. 

The commission is reviewing market practices and “will not hesitate to take action against landlords taking advantage of Americans’ housing needs by hiding mandatory fees.”

Tara Raghuveer, director of the Tenant Union Federation, said the group welcomes the FTC’s action as a step to protect tenants from deceptive advertising and exploitative fines and fees.

“This will set useful precedent in an industry that has run on information asymmetry and power imbalance for too long,” Raghuveer said in a statement to Bisnow. “The Trump administration should take further action to hold landlords accountable, protect tenants, and lower the cost of rent.”

The Greystar and FTC agreement was announced Dec. 2, less than two weeks after Greystar agreed to pay $7M to resolve rent-collusion complaints from nine states related to its use of RealPage software. 

Greystar stated its newest agreement contains no admission of wrongdoing. Greystar maintains that its advertising has always been transparent, fair and consistent with the industrywide practice of advertising base rental rates, and it has “long championed transparency in the rental housing industry.”

The apartment operator launched a new website in July featuring a proprietary rent price transparency tool that it said goes beyond the industry’s typical base-rent listing to give renters a clearer view of total costs.

“Greystar’s investments and leadership in these areas show that we are well positioned to support our clients in meeting evolving FTC and state-level requirements,” it said in its Dec. 2 statement.