Nation’s largest single-family home landlord to pay $3.7 million in California rent-gouging case

The nation’s largest landlord of single-family home rentals will pay $3.7 million in civil penalties and restitution to resolve allegations it violated California laws against rent gouging, state Atty. Between October 2019 and December 2022, Invitation Homes, which owns 12,000 properties in California, increased rents for 1,900 tenants above the allowable amounts per state laws, according to Bonta’s office. “The settlement announced today should serve as a reminder to landlords in California to familiarize themselves with the law and protections put in place to keep homes accessible to Californians.” An attorney general’s office investigation found that a small percentage of the rent increases that Invitation Homes imposed from late 2019 through 2022 violated the rent cap laws and that the company had identified some of the problems through its own reviews and provided remediation to affected tenants, Bonta’s office said. Besides the 2019 rent cap law, Bonta’s office alleged Invitation Homes violated separate laws that prohibit annual rent increases larger than 10% in local and statewide emergency periods, such as during the COVID-19 pandemic.