Migliaccio & Rathod LLP is investigating whether Apartments.com and CoStar Realty Information, Inc. improperly charged renters fees when making online rent payments through the Apartments.com payment platform.
Apartments.com allows tenants to make rent payments online to participating landlords and property managers. According to allegations concerning the platform, renters who used certain payment methods may have been automatically assessed an additional transaction fee when paying rent, including fees associated with debit card, credit card, or other electronic payment methods.
One reported transaction from April 2024 involved an automatically imposed $6.60 fee. Apartments.com currently advertises free ACH rent payments while charging a percentage-based fee for certain other payment methods.
Migliaccio & Rathod is investigating whether renters were adequately informed of these fees before beginning or completing their transactions, whether fee-bearing payment methods were presented or selected in a potentially misleading manner, and whether renters were clearly informed of available methods for paying rent without an additional fee.
The investigation is particularly focused on renters who made payments through Apartments.com while CoStar Realty Information was headquartered in Washington, D.C. CoStar identified its principal place of business and corporate offices as 1331 L Street NW, Washington, D.C., before relocating its headquarters to Arlington, Virginia, on January 21, 2025.
Renters May Have Experienced:
- Being charged an additional fee when paying rent through Apartments.com;
- Having a fee-bearing payment method automatically selected or presented during the payment process;
- Learning the amount of the transaction fee only after beginning the rent-payment process;
- Paying additional fees when using a debit card, credit card, or other electronic payment method;
- Being unaware that a different payment method could potentially be used without an additional fee; or
- Paying the same or similar transaction fee repeatedly with monthly rent payments.
Potential Claims May Include:
- Failure to adequately disclose mandatory or automatically imposed fees;
- Misleading or deceptive presentation of rent-payment options;
- Failure to clearly disclose available fee-free payment alternatives;
- Unfair or deceptive trade practices;
- Violations of the District of Columbia Consumer Protection Procedures Act; and
- Violations of other applicable consumer-protection laws.
Signs You May Be Affected:
- You used Apartments.com to pay rent;
- You were charged an additional transaction or processing fee;
- You paid rent using a debit card, credit card, or another fee-bearing payment method;
- The fee or its amount was not clearly disclosed before you began the transaction;
- You were not clearly informed about a fee-free payment option; or
- You paid an Apartments.com rent-payment fee multiple times.
If you have encountered these issues, we would like to hear from you. Please complete the contact form on this page, send us an email at [email protected], or give us a call.