The Federal Trade Commission has announced an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) to explore a new rule governing unfair or deceptive rental housing fee practices. The initiative focuses on the widening gap between advertised rent and the total amounts renters actually pay once mandatory fees and charges are added. Once the ANPRM has been published in the Federal Register, comments will be accepted for 30 days. 

Background
The ANPRM reflects the FTC’s growing concern over fees that appear at every stage of the rental lifecycle and that are often omitted from advertised prices. The FTC points to “base” rents that exclude mandatory amenity, technology, administration, utility-related, and other fees, as well as security deposit practices that may obscure when and why funds are withheld. Building on recent enforcement actions against large national landlords and parallel state‑level legislation and enforcement, the FTC suggests that such practices can mislead consumers, increase search costs, distort competition, and justify a uniform federal standard that would support civil penalties and more streamlined redress.

Questions Presented
The ANPRM seeks comment on, among other issues:

• The roles and practices of rental housing providers and third‑party platforms in setting, advertising, and collecting rent and fees, including what is and is not included in advertised rent.
• The types, prevalence, and size of mandatory and optional fees (e.g., application, holding, amenity, technology, utility, administrative, late, and move‑out charges), and how they are disclosed and characterized.
• The feasibility of requiring “total rent” disclosures that incorporate all mandatory recurring and one‑time charges, and how to treat contingent or variable costs such as utilities and ratio utility billing systems.
• Security deposit and move‑out practices, including criteria for withholding funds, treatment of normal wear and tear, and whether documentation should be required for deductions.
• The role and capabilities of property management software, listing services, and online rental platforms in displaying total rent and itemized fees, and the costs and operational impacts of potential new requirements.
• Whether and how a federal rule should define covered entities and fees, interact with existing state and local laws, provide exemptions or tailored obligations, and be structured to maximize consumer benefit while minimizing compliance burdens.

Our Take
This ANPRM is a strong signal that the FTC is preparing to move from case‑by‑case enforcement toward a comprehensive federal framework for rental fee transparency. A likely direction is a “total price” standard in which the most prominent price reflects all mandatory costs to rent a unit, paired with clearer, earlier, and more consolidated disclosure of fee types, purposes, and refundability. The ANPRM’s focus on property management software and online platforms indicates that technology providers, not just landlords, will be expected to adapt to support these disclosures.