In a roundtable Friday with Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser pledged to work closely with federal investigators to crack down on “abusive and predatory practices” by corporate landlords — a sign that housing may soon become a larger focus for the state’s top enforcer of consumer protection laws.
“We need to get the word out,” Weiser said. “The goal is, if landlords know there will be consequences for them failing to follow the law, they’re going to be more motivated to follow the law.”
Khan and Weiser met with renters and legal advocates at the Community Economic Defense Project at their North Capitol Hill office in Denver, where tenants shared stories of rising rental fees, deteriorating living conditions and feelings of helplessness when they had nowhere to turn for assistance.
“A big pain point that we’ve been hearing about for some time now is potentially abusive practices in the housing market, especially for renters,” Khan said at the event.
In her remarks, Khan focused on two areas as top concerns for the FTC: hidden fees and computer algorithms that landlords now use to screen tenants and set the price of rent.
Renters reported a rise in mandatory maintenance fees that aren’t always spelled out in their lease, allowing landlords to raise them at any time. Some said their landlords no longer take checks or money orders, requiring tenants to pay instead through phone apps and web portals that charge processing fees just to pay the rent. Over the course of a 12-month lease, those fees can add up to hundreds or even thousands of dollars.
Advocates say the payment portals are particularly challenging for low-income residents and immigrants who are less likely to have a bank that can process online withdrawals without an additional charge.
Khan said she’d heard of companies charging for basics like trash pickup that used to be included in people’s base rent, calling it “a bait and switch” that prevents renters from knowing how much they actually owe for housing.
Under Khan, the FTC — which enforces federal competition and consumer protection laws — has taken a tougher stance on antitrust laws, supporting lawsuits against tech giants like Amazon and Google, as well as joining Colorado in opposing the proposed merger of grocery chains Kroger and Albertsons.
Khan’s visit — her second to Colorado since her appointment by the Biden administration in 2021 — came a day after the grocery stores announced a pause on their merger in the face of antitrust challenges from Colorado and the FTC, who argue it would decrease competition and hurt consumers.
Her aggressive approach at the FTC has won her praise from those critical of corporate power, both on the progressive left and the populist right. But she faces an uncertain political future, no matter which party wins the White House. Most Republicans oppose her, and a major Democratic donor this week called for Vice President Kamala Harris to replace Khan as chair if she’s elected president.
The focus of Friday’s event was housing — but Khan said there are antitrust concerns in the rental market, too.
Lawsuits have been brought in a number of states against housing data firms RealPage and Yardi, both by tenants and state attorneys general who argue that their software enables competitors to conspire to drive up the price of rent.
“So when you have different landlords all using the same algorithm to set rents, that could be facilitating higher prices in a way that could potentially violate the antitrust laws,” Khan said. “Collusion through an algorithm is still collusion and should be treated that way.”
The companies, and the landlords who use their software, have denied the claims.
“RealPage is proud of the role our customers play in providing safe and affordable housing to millions of people,” RealPage CEO Dana Jones said in a statement posted to the company’s website last month. “Despite the noise, we will continue to innovate with confidence and make sure our solutions continue to benefit residents and housing providers, alike.”
A number of landlords named in the lawsuits manage properties in Colorado, as well. But the state has not taken any action on the issue, and a Democratic-led bill to prohibit the use of such algorithms to set rent was gutted in the state Senate this year amid opposition from landlord groups.On Friday, Weiser said that his office “is open to hearing more about” potential collusion via algorithm, and pledged further scrutiny on landlord business practices through his office’s newly created Civil Rights Unit.
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