Progress Residential Agrees To Pay $49.75M In Proposed FTC Settlement

On 6th November 2026 the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the national consumer protection regulator, and the attorneys general or consumer agencies of Arizona, Colorado, Indiana and Utah filed a complaint in the US District Court for the Northern District of Georgia against Progress Residential, LLC and its owner, private equity firm Pretium Partners, LLC. They filed a stipulated order the same day, a settlement the defendants have agreed to.

In its press release, the FTC says the Commission voted 2-0 to authorise the filing and calls it the largest enforcement matter taken against a landlord in its history. It also says stipulated orders have the force of law once approved and signed by the judge.

The complaint says Progress manages more than 90,000 homes in 17 states, and the FTC says the $48.5 million paid to it is to be used to provide redress to consumers the companies harmed. The order would also change how rent is advertised, how deposits are handled and what leases may say, for all of Progress's single-family rental properties in the United States.

What The Order Provides

The order sets a judgment of $48.5 million in favour of the plaintiffs, payable to the FTC, and a separate $1.25 million for Arizona's attorney fees and costs. The two sums make $49.75 million. The FTC portion is paid in instalments: $4.5 million within 10 days of entry of the order, then $4 million every 30 days for 11 further payments. If a payment is missed, the full unpaid judgment becomes due with interest.

The FTC may place the money in a fund for consumer relief such as redress. If direct redress is impracticable, it may use remaining money for related relief.

The order would require Progress and Pretium to display a "Total Monthly Rental Price" that includes all recurring mandatory fees or charges, excluding variable utilities and optional fees, and to show it more prominently than other pricing information. It would also bar misrepresenting that homes are inspected, require itemised statements of deposit deductions no later than 30 days after move-out, or sooner where state law or the lease requires, and ban standardised lease terms that restrict tenants' reviews.

What The Complaint Alleges

The complaint says Progress is wholly owned by Pretium. The FTC says Progress describes itself as the nation's largest property manager of single-family rental homes. It alleges that since at least 2021 Progress added mandatory monthly fees that its advertised "Per Month" price left out, and that consumers typically paid between $30 and $330 or more per month above that price.

It lists fees including a smart home fee of $17 to $30 a month, a utility management fee of $7.95 to $9.99 a month and a $14.95 monthly "renter's insurance exemption fee". The complaint alleges that some residents who provided proof of insurance were still charged.

It further alleges that homes were presented as move-in ready without inspection, that security deposits were deducted improperly, that customer service failed to resolve billing and maintenance problems, and that lease clauses barred negative reviews. It says Pretium oversaw property management operations.

The FTC's press release says the complaint alleges that the majority of the conduct occurred under prior management and that new management has moved to remedy the issues. The complaint's own text describes the pricing practice as continuing through the present day, and says the company has not taken sufficient steps to remedy its customer service. These are the plaintiffs' allegations; no court has ruled on them.

Liability And Status

Paragraph 3 of the order's findings says the defendants "neither admit nor deny any of the allegations in the Complaint", except as stated in Sections IX.B and IX.C. Those sections say that, in later civil litigation by the plaintiffs, including an action to enforce payment, the complaint's facts are taken as true without further proof, and that they establish what is needed to challenge the debt's discharge in bankruptcy. The defendants also waive appeal rights and bear their own costs.

The signature block for the judge is blank in the filed version, so the order is proposed. Whether it has been entered is not shown by the documents read. The defendants' response to the complaint is also not in them, and no company statement was found.

Context

The complaint says Progress did not show the true monthly cost until after collecting application and holding fees, and that after learning of the FTC's investigation in late 2024 it revised its listings to itemise more fees, but its website listings still advertise a monthly rental price that fails to include all mandatory monthly fees. It alleges the companies took in $68.8 million in fees and penalties in 2022, according to an internal report circulated to Progress and Pretium executives.