Fee transparency for rental housing listings is a growing focus of federal, state, and local regulators across the United States. Fee transparency is intended to help potential renters understand their true monthly cost to rent, not just the base rent, before they apply.
Understanding Fee Transparency
Federal agencies such as the FTC are focused on enforcing laws that prohibit unfair or deceptive trade practices, or that require truth in advertising. These laws are not new, but there is a renewed effort to apply them to rental housing market listings. In addition, some states and cities are considering or have passed specific fee transparency rules to help protect consumers from incomplete, confusing, or misleading advertised rents.
Some potential requirements include:
Disclosing up front to consumers the recurring fees that apply to a rental unit, so the consumer understands the actual monthly cost of renting a unit without having to guess.
Requiring a breakdown of each recurring monthly fee in addition to the base rent that goes into the actual cost of renting a unit.
Clearly and conspicuously displaying actual monthly rental costs.
Prohibiting or limiting certain fees, such as payment processing fees, late fees, screening fees, fees for services that are unnecessary or not provided, charging tenants for landlord obligations like habitability or common area maintenance, etc.
This is not an exhaustive list and requirements will vary depending on where your property is located, the type of advertising you do, and other factors.
RentCafe Tools to Help Properties and Consumers
There are fee transparency tools available in RentCafe that can help properties show consumers move-in charges, recurring monthly charges, application fees, and other property-specific fees that will affect the actual monthly rent. These tools can be configured to display optional personalized fees for each rental unit such as pet fees, storage or maid service fees, etc., and can be used by consumers to understand how the options they select will impact their monthly rent.
IMPORTANT: As a housing provider, it is your responsibility to understand, configure, and use RentCafe’s fee transparency tools to meet your specific needs. The tools may not be suitable for every property, and each property’s needs will vary depending on where the property is located, the type of units for rent, the size of the property management company, and other factors. Yardi and the RentCafe Account Management team cannot provide legal advice, so it is essential that you consult with your legal or compliance teams to determine the fee transparency obligations that apply to each of your properties.
To get started setting up and configuring RentCafe’s fee transparency tools, or if you need more information or have questions, please contact your RentCafe Account Management team.
Potentially Applicable Laws, Rules, and Regulations
This Client Notice was prepared for general information purposes only and may not include all the laws, rules and regulations that apply to you. Some cities and counties may have their own related laws in addition to or in the absence of state laws. The links below and the information to which they point are not maintained by Yardi and may change at any time without notice. Always consult a lawyer or qualified housing expert for your specific legal or compliance obligations:
Federal
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Georgia
Maine
Massachusetts
Minnesota
Nevada
New Mexico
New York
Utah
Virginia
This Client Notice is provided for general informational purposes, does not constitute legal advice, and may not be relied upon as such, and may change without notice. This information is for RentCafe customers and is not intended to be used as a consumer-facing document or for other third parties.
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