One of Charlotte’s biggest single-family home landlords has agreed to a $48 million settlement with renters, after the Federal Trade Commission says the corporate landlord overcharged tenants.
Invitation Homes charged renters hundreds of dollars worth of junk fees for unnecessary services, unfairly withheld security deposits from tenants, and improperly filed evictions against renters, including some who had already moved out. All told, the FTC said Monday that the junk fees averaged as much as $1,700 a year on top of the advertised rental rate.
Invitation Homes is one of the biggest corporate landlords in the U.S. They bought tens of thousands of houses after the Great Recession and turned them into rentals.
In North Carolina, Invitation Homes owns about 5,600 houses, concentrated in Charlotte, the Triangle, Greensboro and Winston-Salem.
Invitation Homes agreed to the settlement to refund renters, without admitting wrongdoing. A judge must still approve the agreement.
