BEWARE OF CHARGING HIDDEN RENTAL FEES For years, apartment hunters have learned to read rental listings with a little skepticism. The rent might say $2,500. Then comes the fine print: a $75 technology fee, $40 for trash, $35 for “resident services,” perhaps another charge for pest control or utility administration. By the time a prospective tenant gets to the lease, that $2,500 apartment may cost considerably more each month. There is nothing inherently wrong with charging a fee for a service. What is changing is how those fees are disclosed. Federal regulators, state lawmakers, cities and the major rental-listing platforms are all moving toward the same basic idea: renters should be able to see the real cost of a home before they spend time and money pursuing it. That does not mean every rental fee is about to disappear. It does mean the days of putting the lowest possible number in the headline and explaining the rest later are getting harder to maintain.
PAGE 72
Powered by FlippingBook