New FTC Rulemaking Targets 'Junk Fees' In Tough Rental Market

With expenses high and rent growth sluggish, apartment landlords are increasing add-on charges for renters as the Federal Trade Commission once again zeroes in on so-called “junk fees.”

These fees, levied on everything from utilities to valet services for trash, can add hundreds of dollars for tenants who may already struggle with their rent, causing the FTC to consider new rules for fee transparency.

“These rental fees that we see pop up in all sorts of contexts can be real pain points for renters who are already cash-strapped and have seen rental costs go up for many, many years now,” Center for American Progress ​​Senior Fellow for Economic Policy Chad Maisel said. 

The FTC on March 13 said it was seeking public comment on whether it should create a rule stopping landlords and property managers from advertising rents that don’t include all mandatory charges or adding fees without disclosure or explanation.  

The effort is a renewed push by the FTC to regulate these fees after a Biden-era rule stopped short of restricting what apartment owners can charge and how.

The possible rule comes during a precarious time for multifamily landlords, who have lost some leverage to charge more amid nationwide apartment vacancy of 8.6%.

A tidal wave of apartment deliveries in 2024 has kept a lid on rental rate growth, which reached just 0.4% year-over-year in March to $1,627 per month, according to Apartments.com. Rate growth dipped into negative territory to end 2025 before inching back up in the new year.

Zillow’s most recent consumer housing trends report found that in 2025, 60% of renters surveyed paid at least one fee, not including pet fees, on top of their rent. That is a slight uptick from 2024, when 58% of renters said the same. 

Charges for internet, amenities and utilities have all grown in popularity among landlords, although "valet trash" is charged far less frequently than in 2024, according to Zillow.

Bisnow reached out to the 10 largest landlords in the U.S. for comment on the proposed rule and their usage of the fees, but nine did not respond.

Greystar, which introduced a rent transparency tool last year, declined to comment. Last year, Greystar was ordered to pay $24M to the FTC and state of Colorado in a civil lawsuit over its fee disclosures.

Apartment owners have raised fees in recent years because of rising operating costs, said Alexander Hermann, a senior research associate at Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies. 

As those costs have gone up, landlords have been able to raise rents to cover the difference, but there are limits to how much they can increase the base rent without having an impact on tenant interest, especially in today’s more tenant-friendly market.

Multifamily operating costs eased slightly in 2025 but remain 40% above their pre-pandemic level, according to RealPage. And as conflict in the Middle East continues, prices for operational essentials such as construction materials and utilities have risen.

Property taxes and insurance, especially in natural disaster-prone regions, are also on the rise for many multifamily landlords.

Another growing expense is screening to push back against a surge in fraudulent applications, according to National Apartment Association Associate Vice President of Housing Policy and Regulatory Affairs Nicole Upano.

“Our members are now having to use vendors or supplier partners to help them navigate all of the fraudulent documentation that can't be identified with the naked eye,” she said.

The number, type and amount of fees vary widely, but studies show they add to the existing burden borne by renters seeking housing after years of rent increases that were exacerbated by the pandemic. 

The “excess burden” of apartment application fees alone is $276M a year, according to a 2025 report from the National Consumer Law Center that cites a 2024 White House Council of Economic Advisers estimate, which is no longer available on the White House website.

Application fees in particular can be a hindrance during the apartment search process, as noted in a 2022 Georgetown Journal on Poverty and Law article. Researchers found many instances of families paying screening and application fees for each apartment they applied to, routinely adding up to hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars being spent on the search alone.

A January 2024 report from the University of Texas at Austin Housing Policy Clinic found these fees weren’t just widespread but often hard to opt out of and imposed costs in great excess to what it cost landlords to provide the service.

Traditionally, fees are disclosed up front as standard practice when tenants communicate with leasing professionals, according to the National Apartment Association. 

An industry coalition including the NAA and National Multifamily Housing Council released a statement after the FTC's request was posted, noting that existing state and local laws make a federal rule unnecessary, that “the rental relationship is ongoing, and that fees are disclosed in the rental lease and throughout the lifecycle of the lease term as new circumstances arise.”

“We are very supportive of rental price transparency, specifically about the fees housing providers use to facilitate essential business practice and to provide residents with services or benefits that they have opted into and that can take place at any part of the life cycle of their tenancy,” Upano said.

But the claim that landlords and owners practice rental fee transparency is disingenuous, Maisel said. Renters often apply for a unit based on the advertised rate and then, after getting accepted, are presented with a lease that spells out additional charges and a monthly cost that is higher than they expected.

Currently, 19 states have some form of rental fee regulation, which can include banning application fees or charges for facilities or pest control. Some ban “notice fees,” which are small payments required when a landlord needs to post a notice to a tenant.

Most of these laws have been enacted in the last five years, and legislatures in Illinois, Virginia and Utah are considering similar measures. 

Some mandates require disclosing the total monthly leasing price, while some demand disclosure of fees along with the base rent. The laws also differ on when the disclosures need to be made, whether during advertising or codified in the lease.

“It would be great to have a national floor, but I think it's still really critical that states and local governments, where it's possible, for them to implement stronger laws around rental housing junk fees,” said Ariel Nelson, senior attorney at the NCLC. “Disclosure is essential, but it's also like a baseline. The FTC could think about banning certain types of fees.”

Advocates expect significant pushback from the rental housing industry if the federal effort produces a proposed rule with real teeth and enforcement mechanisms. Public comment is due to the FTC by April 13.

“There's significant pushback on really anything that is proposed as it relates to junk fees in the rental housing market,” Maisel said.