Invitation Homes Inc. has been hit with a class action lawsuit challenging its practice of charging tenants late fees even when the rent is paid just one hour late and the company incurs no actual damage from the delay.
According to the rental late fee class action lawsuit, the rental market has changed substantially since the market crash 10 years ago caused millions of families to lose their homes through foreclosure, short sale, or surrender to a lender.
“Since then, national and global private equity firms have snatched up tens of thousands of single-family homes at hugely discounted prices (sometimes subsidized by the government and taxpayers), which they have then turned into rental properties,” the Invitation Homes class action lawsuit says.
“In short, the residential rental industry has recently undergone a massive transformation and consolidation out of the hands of small and family landlord businesses (who had direct ties to and relationships with their tenants), and into the large arms of private equity, hedge fund, and other Wall Street giants whose allegiances run solely to their investors, and whose motivations are driven purely by stock price and by showing and growing those all-important quarterly earnings.”
Plaintiff Jose Rivera says these Wall Street landlords evict their tenants at a far higher rate than other landlords of single-family homes. According to the Invitation Homes class action lawsuit, they also increase the rent for the properties, fail to do necessary maintenance, and assess illegal fees on tenants.
Rivera says the Wall Street landlords impose inflated “late” rent penalties and “penalties that stack on top of penalties that, themselves, cause a tenant to fall behind (even when they are paying their actual rent), leading to their eviction.”
According to the rental late fees class action lawsuit, publicly-traded Invitation Homes is the “largest player in this newly transformed rental market.” Rivera claims Invitation Homes charges tenants an initial fee of $95 for late rent payments, even if the payment is received just one hour past the grace period.
Rivera says he was a tenant of an Invitation Homes property in California. He claims he was subjected to the company’s allegedly illegal late rent penalty policy and was forced to pay the fees to Invitation Homes.
On at least one occasion, when Rivera attempted to pay his rent online through the company’s web portal, the web portal was not working. He contacted the company and was allegedly told not to worry about it and to keep trying. After multiple attempts to pay online were unsuccessful, he mailed in his payment, at which point it was technically “late.”
Invitation Homes reportedly returned Rivera’s check to him because the payment was late and did not include payment for the additional late fees and penalties.
According to the late rent fees class action lawsuit, Invitation Homes threatened to evict Rivera even though he paid his rent in full but failed to pay the late fees. Not wanting to be evicted from his home, he paid the $95 late fee plus $895 in “legal” fees.
Rivera claims these fees are arbitrary amounts and constitute illegal penalties. He filed the Invitation Homes class action lawsuit on behalf of himself and a proposed nationwide Class of tenants who were charged penalties or fees for paying rent that was deemed late or deficient. He also seeks to represent a California Class.
The plaintiff is represented by Craig M. Nicholas, Adam Tomasevic and Shaun Markley of Nicholas & Tomasevic LLP.
The Invitation Homes Late Fees Class Action Lawsuit is Jose Rivera v. Invitation Homes Inc., Case No. 3:18-cv-03158-JCS, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
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53 thoughts onInvitation Homes Class Action Challenges Rental Late Fees
How do I find out if I need a recovery agent or not? I’ve gotten 4 companies who say they will get my money for a fee.
Contact me as well. Invitation homes in Florida.
After the Henderson, Nevada home we rented and occupied was bought by Invitation Homes, we had noting but problems. No one answered the phone or replied to emails. When it came time for the lease renewal they insisted we sign an addendum acknowledging the presence of capital improvements that did not exist. They insisted we acknowledge the presence of fencing around the pool that wasn’t installed, and a home alarm system that was non-existent. After two months trying to resolve the lease inaccuracies, we finally gave-up and contacted a real-estate agent and bought a house rather than renew. In hind-sight, they did us a favor since we bought in September 2019 before things got crazy. Had it not been for Invitation Homes gross ineptitude and malfeasance, we would likely still be renters and would now be locked-out of the new home market. We are so grateful Invitation Homes sucks so bad, they sucked us right out of their rental home into a place of our own. I feel sorry for anyone forced to continue dealing with them. And I look forward to receiving my class-action lawsuit settlement check recently settled in Texas in favor of current and former tenants. I only regret the settlement wasn’t large enough to destroy half the the company’s equity.
Same here in North Carolina. I was a day late and was hit with the high $94 fee, which at the time I had to use my credit card to cover the rent + fee thus resulting in another $50 fee of using a credit card via their web portal. I also get charged with smart rent, a feature that is not wanted/needed, costs me $240 a year. Their maintenance team is not good. I requested they repair my toilet paper roll holder, and they spaced the ends out slightly too far causing the roll to always fall. They also will not repair a broken window caused by my former lawn maintenance staff. It is really sad to see more and more homes bought by these large companies who thrive on taking advantage of the average American family.
I have said this exact same comment about Invitation Homes when I started renting from them in 2017. They are so greedy and don’t give a damn about their rental properties (I cared more about the home and pool then they did) or their tenants, even the good, long term, loyal, and on-time paying ones. They did absolutely nothing to help anyone (including myself who lost my job) during this pandemic. I did get a few months of rental assistance from Calif Covid relief before it shut down. But as soon as that assistance ended IH was on me for payment plus additional $600-900 for the missed months? So, basically they aren’t willing to give up a dime of income during a time when many have lost their jobs, businesses, families, etc. They also have a sealed indictment on them so they (amongst many other large corps) will be going down soon I predict. Serves them right. I stumbled on this single family home with a private pool and spa and jumped on it in California (as they are hard to come by). I am kicking myself though for not checking reviews first – I would’ve run for the hills after reading them. I will do whatever it takes to help take them down – they have screwed over and ruined so many people’s lives for their stockholders. It is dispicable.
Contact me at susan.68@icloud.com
I need someone to get back to me about invitatation homes. Was late on payment because of the way i get paid. So when i got paid i sent them the rent with late fees whitch are 310 plus they hit me with 500 in legal fees and they are sending check back for march because they said they need march and april together when they know for 10 years I’ve been here that i always pay late,around the 10th because i get paid once a month. I need someone ro cantact me in florida
Can someone please reach out to me for information on how to file a class action lawsuit or join the current one in California. I can attest that all these claims are true. I am a resident of IH in California, moved in June 2013. I have waited 2 months for a replacement stove, which I was told was not operable. I have to wait weeks and or months to get a service order filled.
Also since the pandemic, I paid my rent as normal. I was 11 days late and received a 3 day notice
Also if you dont pay by the third, they automatically charge you late fee. This went on during the pandemic and is still happening
I also need someone to contact me about Invitation Homes! They are a huge scam! I have dozens of photos proving terrible living conditions! I have emails and text with the company and the refusal to fix things like a hole in the roof, windows that would not close, doors that allowed rain to come through and a giant wall of mold! Plus so much more!
I too want to be contacted I live in Georgia
I want to be contacted also I live in Georgia
I lived the same nightmare and even though we finally got out last March, our health problems haven’t gone away due to the horrible living conditions and the toxic mold and water contamination. I documented everything. I would love to connect with you. My email is Ryanannwyrosdick@gmail.com and I’m a member of a ton of facebook groups for tenants of IH who have been going through this hell. If we all come together, maybe we can make a difference and warn others of what they actually do and what could happen.