MD lawmaker sues property management company over ‘junk fees’

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A class-action lawsuit brought by a progressive state lawmaker aims to stop a big landlord from charging purported “junk fees” and misleading potential renters.

Camden Development, one of the nation’s largest publicly traded apartment management companies, “lures” renters in by misstating how much an apartment will cost, then makes them pay more than they expected or budgeted, according to a complaint brought by two College Park renters.

Camden owns and manages about 1,600 apartment units at four locations in Maryland, including one in College Park and three in Montgomery County.

“A lot of their success has been fueled by being pioneers in junk fees,” state Del. Vaughn Stewart, D-Montgomery, who is representing the plaintiffs, told The Daily Record. “If they incorporated the fees into the lease, then that higher amount presumably would scare off tenants like the plaintiffs in this lawsuit.”

A spokesman for Camden did not respond to a request for comment on Friday. Camden’s lawyer, Brent Gary, of Holland & Knight in Tysons, Virginia, did not respond either.

Stewart is representing John Hall and Monica Bahena, who lived in a Camden apartment in College Park. They had hoped to pay no more than $1,800 per month in rent, and went for a Camden apartment advertised for $1,729 on Zillow. They paid a $50 application fee and signed the lease in March 2024, then saw several fees that had gone unmentioned or appeared optional, and they ended up paying more than $1,900 per month.

Those included a $450 one-time “community fee” for upkeep of common areas and a $118 monthly “technology package,” which provided cable TV, a residents-only social media site and “access to online rent payments and service requests.”

The complaint also takes aim at the company’s use of a “ratio utility billing system,” a method for utility billing which divides the apartment complex’s costs among residents, rather than charging customers for their usage.

Stewart said the “RUBS” model is not lawful under the 2022 Tenant Protection Act — which he sponsored.

Stewart sued in November in Prince George’s County Circuit Court. Camden removed the case to federal court on Feb. 5.

“The reality for consumers is different than the marketing blurbs,” the complaint states. “Camden’s website never informs prospective tenants that this ‘Starting Price’ is not actually attainable.”

The complaint alleges violations of the Maryland Consumer Protection Act, the Maryland Consumer Debt Collection Act, and the Maryland Real Property Article.

The complaint seeks to establish three classes of Camden renters with claims against the company: a deceptive marketing class, an illegal fees class, and a RUBS class.

Camden is also a defendant in a civil case brought by the U.S. Department of Justice and several states — both Democratic- and Republican-led. In an amended complaint last month, the government sued tech company RealPage and several large landlords in North Carolina federal court last month, alleging they used an algorithm to fix prices.

In a press release about the federal lawsuit, Camden Property Trust said it “disagrees” with the claims and would move to dismiss the case.

Camden and other developers argue high rents are due to low housing supply.

“Rental rates are a result of many factors, most importantly government regulations limiting housing supply. When supply is limited by government regulations, rents go up,” the press release stated. “Camden is committed to doing its part in expanding the nation’s housing supply.”

Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown filed a similar antitrust lawsuit against RealPage and property managers last month, but Camden was not named as a defendant.

“Defendants’ anti-competitive agreement has exacerbated Maryland’s affordable housing crisis, forcing Maryland renters to overpay, month after month, for what is typically the single largest expense in their lives: rent,” Brown’s complaint stated.