Federal regulators have announced that Greystar, one of the largest landlords in the country with dozens of properties in Massachusetts, misled tenants about rental costs and has agreed to pay $23 million in restitution.
The Federal Trade Commission has issued an order requiring Greystar to clearly disclose the actual price of rent, including any fees, at its apartment buildings.
“They don’t tell you up front how much you’re actually gonna be charged,” Nihalika Vohra said. The student and tenant says that her monthly bill is crammed with charges she never expected.
Chris Muffarrige, Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection at the FTC, explained that Greystar’s advertising practices involved ‘drip pricing,’ where the total cost was not disclosed upfront but revealed at the end of the leasing process.
“The price that was advertised was not the actual final price,” he said.
The FTC order bars Greystar from hiding monthly costs going forward.
Greystar has dozens of buildings in eastern Massachusetts and when Boston 25 checked, they are now showing the total monthly price, including mandatory monthly costs.
“That’d definitely be very helpful in like comparing prices to different apartments when you’re figuring out where you wanna live,” Vohra said.
As part of the agreement, Greystar does not admit wrongdoing, but says in a statement that the order “enhances transparency.”
The Chairman of the FTC has also ordered staff to write a rule covering all landlords and requiring transparent pricing, just like the agency has done with concert tickets and hotel rooms.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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