The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced on September 24 that the agency has reached a settlement with Invitation Homes, the nation’s largest landlord of single-family homes, for its predatory and unlawful behavior against renters, including wrongful evictions of tenants when the federal eviction moratorium was in place, imposition of hidden and junk fees, unfair withholding of security deposits, and failure to inspect homes. Invitation Homes has agreed to refund $48 million to households harmed by its actions and to correct its policies and practices. The settlement must now be approved by a federal judge before it can go into effect.
“No American should pay more for rent or be kicked out of their home because of illegal tactics by corporate landlords,” said FTC Chair Lina M. Khan in a press statement. “The FTC will continue to use all our tools to protect renters from unlawful business practices.”
NLIHC President and CEO Diane Yentel testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary’s Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust, and Consumer Rights on October 24, 2023 about the rise of institutional investors like Invitation Homes and the negative impact on tenants, including decreased affordability, increased fees, lack of upkeep, higher rates of eviction, and worsening displacement, particularly in Black neighborhoods. Between 2018 and 2021, for example, the average annual lease fee charged in properties owned by Invitation Homes increased from $201 to $449. Invitation Homes and other institutional investors have also spent millions of dollars opposing federal and state regulations and ballot measures aimed at protecting tenants from egregious rent increases or evictions.
Invitation Homes was the subject of a year-long investigation by the U.S. House of Representatives’ Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, which culminated in a report in 2022 outlining how the organization had “failed to fully comply with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) eviction moratorium or to cooperate with rental assistance programs funded by Congress.” The subcommittee found that Invitation Homes and other large companies engaged in abusive practices against tenants during the pandemic, despite making record profits.
Read the FTC press release at: https://tinyurl.com/4deuwr8c
Read Diane Yentel’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee at: https://tinyurl.com/4pz689dw
Read the House Select Subcommittee report at: https://tinyurl.com/46z6w8ww