ATLANTA — It’s a practice rental advocates say needs to end.
A metro Atlanta renter said that not only was she charged, but she was overcharged hundreds of dollars for a garbage disposal repair.
Channel 2 Investigative Reporter Ashli Lincoln learned that legal advocates are placing a lot of pressure on state and federal officials about the practice.
Advocates said more oversight is needed to stop the practice of squeezing money from renters.
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In this case, a renter was charged nearly $1,000 to fix a garbage disposal that only cost a couple hundred dollars.
Letitia Powers said her landlord, Invitation Homes, charged her $828 for a garbage disposal.
“I just do not appreciate being blindsided like that,” Powers said. “I could have gone and purchased a brand-new garbage disposal for that price.”
Powers’ lease states that it is the landlord’s responsibility to address plumbing issues. Invitation Homes is one of the largest single-family rental firms in the city, owning hundreds of homes.
Lincoln has called and emailed the company multiple times this week for comment, but they have not returned any of her messages.
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“I like the convenience of having someone to come out and fix things without being charged an astronomical, absurd fee like I was with this garbage disposal,” Powers said.
Rental legal advocates with Georgia Appleseed said they’ve seen a number of cases involving large area home rental firms like Invitation Homes that are aggressively increasing costs related to maintenance repairs, rent and fees.
Michael Waller, the Executive Director at Georgia Appleseed, testified last year before the U.S. Senate on predatory pricing practices by institutional investors.
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“She doesn’t have a fighting chance,” Waller said. “She can’t refuse to pay, and no one should be asked to pay a bill that was so outrageous.”
Waller said institutional investors will come in and buy low-income properties and raise rent and fees.
“The pattern here is profit-mongering at the expense of people’s lives,” Waller said.
Powers said she had no choice but to pay for the repair because they attached the costs to her rent. So if she didn’t pay, it would have led to her being late on her rent. That’s practice attorneys said landlords use to evict people.
“Getting involved with a big fish, you don’t want to get swallowed,” Waller said.
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