On December 2nd, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the State of Colorado announced a settlement to conclude a lawsuit alleging deceptive pricing as part of an elevation in scrutiny by government on leasing practices. This settlement will end an inquiry into whether a rental housing provider ran afoul of legal requirements for leasing practices involving the upfront disclosure of base rents and mandatory fees. The settlement does not include an admission of wrongdoing but the FTC Chairman has stated an intent to initiate a rulemaking in this area. View the latest action from the FTC.
NMHC and RETTC have a long-standing commitment to providing tools that promote operational efficiency and transparency in rental housing that benefit housing firms and residents alike. The Multifamily Information Transaction Standards (MITS) Initiative was launched over twenty years ago to develop data models and leverage data exchange technologies to achieve that goal. Today, MITS 5.0 facilitates data transmission among software systems within and between organizations, which includes transparency for base rent and mandatory fees. The foundation of our long-standing effort is built to leverage advancing technologies and evolving practices that promote consistent information and transparency in rental housing. At the same time, the MITS model reflects the diverse operational needs of housing providers across the country.
Well-intended attempts to promote transparency in rents and fees with legislation, regulation and legal action often produce the opposite outcome when they are uninformed. In fact, such efforts can add to the cost of rental housing by injecting complexity and confusion into routine operations, slowing down leasing transactions, and diverting resources from technology upgrades and resident-facing improvements.
RETTC members have numerous resources available to guide their continued work to fee transparency:
- MITS 5.0 Data Model
- RETTC MITS Fee Transparency Data Model Tool
- MITS 5.0 Property Marketing/ILS Supporting Documentation
- Sign up for MITS email updates
