FTC Takes Action Against Invitation Homes for Deceiving Renters, Charging Junk Fees, Withholding Security Deposits, and Employing Unfair Eviction Practices
FTC Takes Action Against Invitation Homes for Deceiving Renters, Charging Junk Fees, Withholding Security Deposits, and Employing Unfair Eviction Practices
>The complaint alleges that Invitation Homes advertised monthly rental rates that failed to include mandatory junk fees that could total more than $1,700 yearly. Consumers looking for rental houses paid nonrefundable fees—including application fees up to $55 and reservation fees up to $500—based on the deceptively advertised rates. Consumers learned that the price would be higher than advertised only when they received a copy of their lease, and sometimes not even until after they signed the lease. These undisclosed fees ranged from “services” such as “smart home” technology and “utility management,” to air filter delivery and internet packages.
This seems like the right thing to do, if they’re advertising a certain price but trying to charge higher by including undisclosed fees (especially ones done *after* signing), then it tricks people who would have not applied had they known the true price.
>Even after renters moved in, the company’s supposed “24/7 emergency maintenance” was frequently nonexistent. According to the complaint, numerous residents complained about being forced to endure days and even weeks in unacceptable—and sometimes dangerous—conditions, including no heat in the middle of winter, no air conditioning in the middle of summer, and flooding or sewage backing up in the home.
Likewise, if you’re advertising 24/7 emergency maintenance and yet it consistently takes days and weeks to get anything done, then you don’t have what you’re claiming and it should be treated as fraudulent.
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Regulatory bodies intervening when necessary, you love to see it
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>The complaint alleges that Invitation Homes advertised monthly rental rates that failed to include mandatory junk fees that could total more than $1,700 yearly. Consumers looking for rental houses paid nonrefundable fees—including application fees up to $55 and reservation fees up to $500—based on the deceptively advertised rates. Consumers learned that the price would be higher than advertised only when they received a copy of their lease, and sometimes not even until after they signed the lease. These undisclosed fees ranged from “services” such as “smart home” technology and “utility management,” to air filter delivery and internet packages.
This seems like the right thing to do, if they’re advertising a certain price but trying to charge higher by including undisclosed fees (especially ones done *after* signing), then it tricks people who would have not applied had they known the true price.
>Even after renters moved in, the company’s supposed “24/7 emergency maintenance” was frequently nonexistent. According to the complaint, numerous residents complained about being forced to endure days and even weeks in unacceptable—and sometimes dangerous—conditions, including no heat in the middle of winter, no air conditioning in the middle of summer, and flooding or sewage backing up in the home.
Likewise, if you’re advertising 24/7 emergency maintenance and yet it consistently takes days and weeks to get anything done, then you don’t have what you’re claiming and it should be treated as fraudulent.
Regulatory bodies intervening when necessary, you love to see it