WA settles with large, national property management company accused of charging military service members unfair housing fees

On the heels of a $1.4 million settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), property management company Greystar reached an agreement with the Washington Attorney General's Office (AGO) to resolve allegations the company violated state and federal laws protecting military service members from illegal housing fees.

The resolution with the AGO bars Greystar from charging illegal early lease termination fees to military service members in the future. The company has also agreed to remove any negative marks on service members' credit reports that stem from improper fees and pay $50,000 to the AGO for, among other things, future enforcement of the Service Members' Civil Relief Act (SCRA).

"Military service by its nature is disruptive enough-whether it's someone being deployed to dangerous assignments or uprooting their whole family for new assignments around the country. It's why we have laws that mitigate those challenges to help them serve the public," Attorney General Nick Brown said. "The last thing service members should have to worry about when getting ready to deploy is going through the fine print of their lease."

The Washington Attorney General's Office and DOJ separately investigated Greystar for claims the company used software that illegally charged fees to service members when they had to break a rental lease early to fulfill military orders. Federal and state law protects service members from being charged financial penalties to break a contract when they receive military orders to deploy or relocate.

Under the DOJ agreement announced in June, Greystar will pay restitution to service members who were unlawfully charged early lease termination fees dating back to July 2018. Service members who paid an illegal fee will be entitled to receive triple that amount from Greystar, and those who were charged, but did not pay, will still be entitled to some restitution. As part of the settlement, Greystar has set aside $1.4 million for nationwide restitution and is conducting an audit to find all the affected service members across the country, including in Washington. Affected service members will be contacted directly by a claims administrator.

Just last month, Brown announced an agreement with another property owner, Olympic Management Company, over similar claims. Olympic agreed to pay more than $46,000 in refunds and interest to 22 service members who were unfairly charged fees when they terminated their leases early due to deployment or other military orders.

Federal and state law prohibit landlords from charging lease termination fees when active-duty service members terminate a lease as a result of deployment, change of station, or retirement orders. If you think your rights under the SCRA may have been violated, you should contact your nearest Armed Forces Legal Assistance Program office.

In 2014, the legislature granted the AGO authority to enforce SCRA laws in support of Washington's military families. Individuals concerned their SCRA rights may have been violated should also file a consumer complaint.

Assistant Attorney General John Nelson, Paralegal Miranda Marti, and Legal Assistant Chris Kiefer worked on the case for Washington state.

The resolution with Greystar can be found here.

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