Yesterday, the Federal Trade Commission took enforcement action against Invitation Homes, the country’s largest single-family home landlord. The FTC found that Invitation Homes regularly broke the law to exploit tenants, “including deceiving renters about lease costs, charging undisclosed junk fees, failing to inspect homes before residents moved in, and unfairly withholding tenants’ security deposits when they moved out.” The FTC’s proposed settlement would require Invitation Homes to pay back tenants to the tune of $48 million and would force the corporate landlord to stop their deceptive practices by clearly disclosing rental prices and return safety deposit funds fairly.
It’s an action that not only identifies corporate malfeasance as a key source of the sky-high rent prices tenants are facing, but one that also sends a warning shot to other corporate landlords to quit using such practices – with the potential larger impact of lowering rental prices. Oddly, neoliberal pundits like Matt Yglesias think that lower prices is a goal at odds with the Neo-Brandeisian take on antitrust enforcement. In fact, the trustbusters at the FTC have been committed to enforcement — inspired by Neo-Brandeisian approaches — that addresses prices in addition to the effect of monopoly power on other dynamics, like labor.
Thanks to the FTC’s bold actions, $48 million dollars will go back into the pockets of tenants. Unfortunately, there are many other landlords – both single-family and multifamily — that continue to willingly exploit their tenants financially. In August 2024, the DOJ Antitrust Division filed a lawsuit against RealPage, a technology company, for colluding with landlords to set rental prices across the country. These investigations reveal that high rental prices aren’t solely based on tangible factors, like the number and condition of homes, but are instead deeply influenced by how effectively corporate landlords can squeeze tenants by orchestrating rental markets to maximize their profits.
Tenants need more material action like the FTC’s crackdown on Invitation Homes, but the federal government can’t stop there. The next administration must protect tenants with a comprehensive regulatory agenda that guarantees rent caps, the right to organize, enforcement of habitability standards, and other protections tenants are sorely missing.