Rent Isn’t What It Seems: The Hidden Fees Driving Up Housing Costs and the States Taking Action

When you close on a home, you’ll comb through pages of disclosures and legal documents that spell out every cost in black and white. While it might feel like a time-consuming pain, those documents ensure that you understand the financial requirements of your new home loan. But when it comes to renting, many tenants sign a short lease agreement without any indication of the true price of living there.

Across the country, renters are reporting a surge of “junk fees”—from mandatory trash collection and pest control to surprise administrative costs—that push monthly bills beyond the advertised rent. For families already struggling with affordability, those hidden charges can be the breaking point.

Lawmakers have taken notice. At least 19 states have passed laws banning or restricting hidden rental fees, with more than 30 measures adopted nationwide since 2025, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition. While the details differ by state, the goal is the same: to bring transparency and fairness to a rental market where the real cost has too often been kept in the fine print.

From mortgages to leases: a tale of two disclosures

After the 2008 financial crisis, Congress passed a slew of legislation aimed at cracking down on predatory lending practices like hidden or “junk” fees. These hidden costs had been a contributor to the housing collapse, as borrowers signed up for subprime mortgages without understanding exactly what they were on the hook for. 

In response, the landmark Dodd-Frank Act gave lenders new mandates to spell out every fee in plain terms for borrowers under the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Truth in Lending framework.

Now, when you take out a mortgage, your lender is required to provide you with loan cost information that you can use to easily compare and shop for better rates and terms. It also gives you the right of rescission, allowing you a grace period to reconsider your choice and back out of the process without losing your money.

The benefits to borrowers are twofold: Not only do the standardized disclosure forms allow them to easily compare and shop between lenders, it gives them a clear picture of the total lifetime cost of the loan.

Renting, by comparison, is a far more casual affair. While there is some standardization of lease contracts, advocates say that lessees often end up signing an agreement with little to no transparency into additional fees, optional add-ons, or the true total cost of living in the unit.

The real cost of renting goes beyond the sticker price

When you look for an apartment, you’re often only looking at the monthly rent price on the listing. But there are at least 27 different types of rental fees (other than the rent itself) lurking in the market, a 2022 survey by the National Consumer Law Center found. 

These charges can appear at every stage of the rental cycle—from application to move-out—and can range from simple apartment “hold” charges to mandatory insurance policies, pet fees, amenity fees, late fees, court costs, and attorney fees.

“Given that these fees can show up in all stages of the rental process and be undisclosed in rental listings, prospective renters are forced to navigate the rental market uniformed of the full costs of submitting applications and of the total monthly costs associated with potential lease,” the National Low Income Housing Coalition shared in a statement.

“Undisclosed fees prevent renters from accurately comparing market rental prices, making informed choices about housing, and creating accurate and manageable household budgets, leading to increased chances of housing instability, especially when rental fees lead renters to spend hundreds of dollars more per month in excess of their anticipated monthly budgets,” the statement continued.

When extra charges push families over the edge

It’s easy to see how these fees can tip the balance. In five of the biggest U.S. metros, minimum-wage workers must work over an 80-hour work week just to afford a median-priced rental with a roommate.

Take Philadelphia, for example, where a minimum wage worker must work a 94-hour week to afford a median-priced apartment of $1,771, assuming the 30% affordability rule. Now imagine that you signed your lease understanding that commitment, but then get a trash removal fee and pest control fee tacked on every month after the fact—those could be devastating charges that end up having to be paid at the cost of other essentials.

Advocates say the core issue is that many of these costs are undisclosed in rental listings, so renters can’t make apples-to-apples comparisons or budget accurately. That opacity not only drives up the true cost of renting but also increases the risk of housing instability when households overextend.

States take aim at junk fees in the rental market

There is a shortage of nearly 7.1 million affordable rental homes for extremely low-income households, according to The National Low Income Housing Coalition’s Gap report—that’s almost double the current housing shortage for homebuyers.

With so many households at risk, states across the country are taking action to force landlords to show tenants the real cost upfront.

Massachusetts now requires landlords to disclose the total rent before asking for personal information, and has banned junk fees—including application fees—as of earlier this month.

“We’ve all been there: booked a hotel room, purchased concert tickets, or paid for a service that was advertised at one price and then charged for one exponentially higher—all because of hidden junk fees,” Massachusetts Attorney General Joy Campbell shared via press release. “These regulations seek to keep more money in residents’ pockets by combatting these unnecessary fees and ensuring consumers understand exactly how much and what they are paying for.”

Colorado banned commercial landlords from tacking on tenant fees and will soon require all apartment ads to include the full rental price, instead of lower base rates.

In Rhode Island and Maine, application fees are barred altogether. And in Connecticut, screening reports can’t cost more than $50—while other “special” charges are limited to keys or special equipment. Maryland’s 2024 law set caps on everything from pet fees to cable and parking, while New Hampshire now requires disclosure of all fees before a lease is signed. 

Even states with more conservative housing climates have embraced transparency laws. 

Utah is an interesting example. A 2021 proposal would have required landlords in the Beehive State to disclose all applicable fees to the tenant before the start of the lease. While the “truth in renting” law ultimately didn’t pass, the initial support for the bill marks a growing bipartisan push to make renting as transparent as borrowing for a home.