US FTC fines Invitation Homes $48 million over hidden fees
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FILE PHOTO: Signage is seen at the Federal Trade Commission headquarters in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 29, 2020. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo
(Reuters) -Invitation Homes, the largest U.S. landlord for single-family homes, agreed to pay $48 million to settle the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's claims it deceived renters about lease costs.
The company charged tens of millions of dollars' worth of undisclosed fees between 2021 and 2023, including charges for air filter delivery, smart home technology, and "utility management," the FTC said.
The fees were not disclosed upfront when customers applied for their units, the FTC said in its lawsuit filed in Atlanta.
The $48 million will go towards reimbursing renters, the FTC said.
Invitation Homes said in a statement that it "believes that its disclosures and practices are industry leading, both among its professional peers as well as the millions of smaller owners of single-family homes for lease."
The company did not admit wrongdoing as a part of the settlement.
The case is yet another brought under the Biden administration's broad effort to tackle "junk fees" that raise the cost of living in the United States.
"No American should pay more for rent or be kicked out of their home because of illegal tactics by corporate landlords," FTC Chair Lina Khan said in a statement.
Invitation Homes was also accused in the lawsuit of failing to inspect homes before residents moved in, and unfairly withholding security deposits when they moved out.
And it engaged in unfair eviction practices, the FTC said, such as by failing to inform renters facing hardships during the COVID-19 pandemic of an eviction moratorium issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
The FTC's Republican commissioners issued statements disagreeing with that charge. The CDC order was vacated by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2021.
(Reporting by Costas Pitas and Ismail Shakil; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
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