Landlord News

Dallas landlord must pay $48 million for charging bogus fees to tenants

Home for rent in Grand Prairie.

Invitation Homes

A Dallas-based company that rents out single-family homes will pay $48 million to settle claims by the Federal Trade Commission that it reaped millions of dollars via deceptive business practices — including forcing tenants to pay undisclosed fees on top of their monthly rent.

Invitation Homes, based in Dallas, is the nation's largest owner of single-family homes for rent. As of June 30, the company owned or managed more than 109,000 homes across the U.S. including numerous properties in Dallas-Fort Worth,

In the complaint, filed in federal court in Atlanta, the FTC claims that the Dallas-based company used “deceptive advertising and unfair practices” to charge millions of dollars in bogus fees that harmed tens of thousands of people.

These "mandatory" fees included charges for internet packages, air-filter delivery, and other services, and were not disclosed in the monthly rental rates that Invitation Homes advertised, the FTC claims.

The FTC alleges that between 2021 and June 2023, he company charged consumers tens of millions of dollars in junk fees as part of their monthly rental payments.

The agency also claims that Invitation Homes systematically withheld tenants' security deposits after they moved out, unfairly charged them for normal wear-and-tear, and used “unfair eviction practices,” including starting eviction proceedings against renters who had already moved out.

Under the terms of the proposed settlement, Invitation Homes also agreed to ensure it is clearly disclosing its leasing prices, establish procedures to handle tenant security-deposit refunds fairly, and cease other unlawful practices.

The funds from the settlement, which is subject to approval by a federal judge, would go toward customer refunds.

The company rents out homes in Atlanta, the Carolinas, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Jacksonville, Las Vegas, Minneapolis, Northern California, Orlando, Phoenix, Seattle, South Florida/Miami, Southern California, and Tampa.

In the Dallas area, many of the 248 homes they have listed are located in the 'burbs such as Rockwall, Keller, Forney, Grand Prairie, and range from $1,949 to $3,000, such as this 3-bedroom 2-bath home in Grand Prairie, available for $1,949 which includes $85 per month for internet, $9.95 per month for "air filter delivery," and $40 per month for a "Smart" doorbell.

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Dallas-Fort Worth ranks among top 25 most livable U.S. metros in 2026

Photo by Max Fray on Unsplash

Dallas-Fort Worth is the most livable metro in Texas for 2026.

Americans looking for the right place to live with a good balance between location, community, and quality of life can find that right here in Dallas-Fort Worth, according to a national study from RentCafe.

The North Texas region stood out as the No. 1 most livable metro area in Texas, and the 24th most livable U.S. metro for 2026.

RentCafe's report analyzed 149 U.S. metro areas across 17 key indicators, including cost of living, income growth rates, "social association" rates, a food index, and others.

The top three most livable American metros are Washington, D.C. (No. 1); Portland, Maine (No. 2); and Kansas City, Missouri (No. 3).

Here's how Dallas-Fort Worth performed in the study's three main rankings compared to the rest of the U.S.:

No. 28 – Socioeconomics
No. 38 – Quality of life
No. 52 – Location and community

According to the findings, more than a third (34.4 percent) of Dallas-Fort Worth's 8.25 million residents are renters, and less than a tenth (9.7 percent) of residents are living in poverty. The city has an unemployment rate of 4.5 percent, and less than half (45.7 percent) of DFW workers report having a "long commute."

The cost of living in Dallas-Fort Worth is 2 percent lower than the national average, the report said, and residents' income has grown 6 percent over the last five years, though the report doesn't elaborate on what those income figures are.

Based on a survey from CountyHealthRankings.com, RentCafe says Dallas residents experience about three "physically unhealthy" days on average, and an average of five "mentally unhealthy" days. Only 17.4 percent of DFW residents are reportedly "physically inactive" and 10.6 percent report they are uninsured.

Overall, 10 more Texas metros earned spots in the report, but they surprisingly all landed outside the top 100 most livable U.S. metros.

Those other Texas metro areas are:

No. 117 – Killeen
No. 125 – Corpus Christi
No. 127 – Houston
No. 130 – Austin
No. 134 – Beaumont
No. 138 – El Paso
No. 145 – Lubbock
No. 147 – San Antonio
No. 148 – Brownsville
No. 149 – McAllen