Transparency around rental fees has emerged as a flash point in the multifamily industry, with growing scrutiny from regulators and mounting frustration among tenants who want to know what they’re really paying for. At both the state and federal levels, questions of disclosure have become increasingly urgent, highlighting just how complicated the leasing process can be.
The debate over fees isn’t unique to housing. Brent Steiner, founder and chief executive of Engrain, told GlobeSt.com that renters’ frustrations echo those seen in other industries where surprise add-ons became a notorious pain point for consumers. “I think we first saw fee transparency in more high-profile use cases, such as hospitality, travel, fintech, and ticket booking,” he said, noting that public backlash in those industries helped fuel similar calls in real estate.
The federal government has also taken notice. The Biden administration made so-called “rental junk fees” a target, though Steiner pointed out that the regulatory picture is more complicated than directives from the Federal Trade Commission. “The first law that I'm aware of was in Minnesota,” he said. “From there, going into 2024, there was some federal legislation and a lot of state legislation that started to come forth.” Whether those rules hold up, he added, could depend on political shifts in Washington.
Part of the challenge lies in how rents are advertised. As Steiner explained, a quoted lease rate in multifamily housing is usually only the starting point. The final monthly cost often includes a host of additional charges—pest control, trash pickup, internet service, parking or pet fees, to name a few. “Some of those optional fees … can come as a surprise,” he said. For anyone working with a strict budget, discovering those add-ons at the lease-signing stage could make an apartment suddenly unaffordable.
Operators, meanwhile, have experimented with different ways to present fee structures more clearly, whether incorporating charges on their own websites or relying on listing platforms such as Apartments.com or Zillow. Engrain has gone a step further by designing a digital fee calculator to help renters tally every line item upfront. The tool allows consumers to plug in optional services and see how they affect the total cost.
But as Steiner acknowledged, technology alone doesn’t solve the problem. State-specific restrictions—like caps on pet rent or limits on fees as a percentage of base rent—add layers of complexity. “From a technology perspective, the calculator needs to be able to accommodate all of those nuances,” he said. That means centralizing control to account for constantly shifting regulations while still designing an interface simple enough for renters to understand their options.
For tenants, the promise is clarity. For operators, it’s the chance to avoid backlash over surprise costs. And for regulators, fee disclosure in housing is becoming a test case in how far transparency can—and should—go.
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