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Last week's Greystar settlement stood out as a significant action on hidden rental fees — but the FTC's next move makes clear that it wasn't an isolated event. The agency has now issued warning letters to 13 property-management software companies, cautioning that design features that inhibit transparent rental pricing could violate federal law. No violations were alleged, but the choice of target and timing speak volumes.
A sector the FTC has only recently begun to scrutinize
Until very recently, residential housing wasn't a meaningful FTC enforcement zone. Aside from the Invitation Homes case in September 2024, the agency had largely stayed out of the rental-housing advertising space for years.
Two weeks in a row of FTC action — first a major settlement with a rental-housing operator, and now a warning-letter sweep — marks a notable shift. Industries that have historically viewed themselves as outside the FTC's line of sight should be paying attention.
How this move connects to the Greystar settlement
In the Greystar post last week, which you can read here, we highlighted Commissioner Andrew Ferguson's statement, which previewed that the FTC is considering rulemaking on rental-housing fee transparency. That comment was a strong signal that the agency views transparency issues in rental pricing not as isolated practices, but as pervasive problems.
These warning letters confirm that view. The FTC is now looking beyond landlords and property managers and examining the broader systems that shape how pricing is communicated to consumers. The point isn't that software is next in line for enforcement; it is that the agency is widening its analytical scope to consider all contributors to pricing opacity.
Why the implications reach well beyond housing
This moment is less about rental platforms and more about what they represent: The FTC is now probing industries that have not historically been subject to significant pricing-transparency enforcement. Residential rentals were not a traditional FTC focus until 2024. The fact that the agency is now acting twice in rapid succession — and signaling formal rulemaking ahead — suggests a readiness to expand scrutiny to other markets where consumers confront layered, complex, or hidden fees.
Industries likely to feel the ripple effects include:
- Markets with mandatory or cumulative add-on charges.
- Sectors where pricing presentation is shaped by third-party tools or automated systems.
- Industries long considered "safe" from FTC fee-transparency enforcement simply because they've never been targeted before.
Takeaway: historical "quiet zones" are now in play
While the warning letters impose no penalties, their significance is clear when paired with Commissioner Ferguson's explicit preview of upcoming rulemaking and the Greystar settlement's focus on hidden fees. Pricing transparency is becoming a cross-industry priority, and the FTC is signaling that no market should assume immunity based on past patterns of inattention.
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