Justice Department orders Greystar to pay over $1.4m for illegal fees on US servicemembers
CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV) — Charleston-based Greystar Real Estate Partners, the largest property management company in the country, has been ordered to pay over $1.4 million to US military servicemembers after the Justice Department found it had imposed illegal fees on individuals who terminated their leases after receiving military relocation orders.
The DOJ alleged that Greystar used a software it knew would automatically charge early termination fees on servicemembers protected under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act.
The company will pay out triple damages to effected military members and their co-tenants, tallying $1.35 million, and an additional $77,370 civil penalty. The Justice Department also said Greystar will change its policies and training, including adopting SCRA-compliant software and forms at all of its properties.
“We honor the service and sacrifices of our military by defending their rights under the law,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “We are aggressively enforcing all laws, including the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, to protect our military servicemembers and veterans.”
Greystar manages over 3,700 communities and 800,000 housing units, including many in Charleston where it is headquartered on Meeting Street. The company’s investment management platform has over $78 billion in assets under management, while Forbes says it manages and operates over $320 billion in real estate globally. S&P Global estimated Greystar had over $320 million in cash on balance sheet as of June 2022.
Billionaire CEO Robert “Bob” Faith was ranked the 760th richest person in the world by Forbes at the time of publication with an estimated net worth of $5 billion. He is the richest man in South Carolina, according to Forbes. His company was previously sued by the Justice Department for allegedly coordinating to keep rents high in the US by using an algorithm that helped set rents and privately shared sensitive information with competitors to boost profits, while the Federal Trade Commission took action in January claiming the company deceived consumers about monthly rent costs by tacking on mandatory fees on top of advertised prices.
READ MORE | “DOJ says Charleston-based apartment company conspired with other landlords to raise rents“
