The Federal Trade Commission sent letters to 13 property management software providers nationwide, warning them they may be violating the law if they inhibit rental property managers and owners from conveying accurate pricing information when marketing rental housing to consumers.
If software providers hinder the flow of accurate pricing information in rental listings, those providers may be depriving consumers of the ability to make informed purchasing decisions, negatively affecting market efficiency, the letters say.
Today’s action comes one week after the FTC announced that Greystar, the nation’s largest multi-family rental property manager, agreed to pay $23 million to the FTC and $1 million to the State of Colorado for allegedly deceiving consumers about rental prices.
“The FTC is committed to rooting out anticompetitive, unfair, and deceptive acts or practices in the rental housing market,” said Christopher Mufarrige, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “Companies need to compete on price and consumers need accurate and non-deceptive information to make the best-informed decisions possible.”
The letters note available information suggests that property management software providers are limiting the ability of rental property managers and owners to accurately advertise total monthly rental prices by failing to include all mandatory fees in the price. Doing so may cause consumers harm by preventing potential renters from getting complete pricing information on property owners’ and managers’ websites and internet listing platforms.
The letters warn that companies engaging in such conduct may be subject to legal action and federal district court injunctions, as well as civil penalties of up to $53,088 per violation under the rules and regulations the Commission enforces.
The letters advise the companies to conduct a comprehensive review of their practices, including their website hosting platforms and software or coding that controls the flow of information to internet listing sites.
“We are monitoring the marketplace for potentially deceptive or unfair acts or practices relating to the marketing and advertising of rental housing and will take additional action as warranted,” the letters conclude.