u/ZaddyThic

In 2024, the Federal Trade Commission sued Invitation Homes, alleging an array of unfair and deceptive practices involving renters. Invitation Homes ultimately agreed to a $48 million settlement, and in 2026 the FTC began distributing more than $47 million to over 444,000 consumers.

The FTC's allegations included failing to properly inspect homes before residents moved in and charging residents at move-out for pre-existing damage and normal wear and tear.

My recent experience with Invitation Homes makes me question how much has actually changed.

1. Advertising a move-in date despite an undisclosed HOA approval process

We applied for an Invitation Homes property on November 30, 2025, with a December 14, 2025 move-in date.

We were not told during the application process was that the property required HOA approval and that the approval process could take approximately 30 days. We were first told about the 30 day approval process on December 12, 2025.

At that point, we had to pay expedited HOA-related fees of roughly $400 in an effort to get approved within 14 days.

This ultimately delayed our move in date until December 22, 2025.

Invitation Homes seemingly purposefully concealed the 30 day HOA approval process from us and advertised a move in date which they could not guarantee. If a property requires an HOA approval process that can take approximately 30 days, why advertise or accept an application based on a move-in date only about two weeks away without prominently disclosing that requirement beforehand? This seems like fraud.

2. The house was still being worked on when we moved in.

When we finally received possession, we documented numerous existing conditions.

The day we moved in, there was a giant pile of trash on the front lawn behind the bushes.

Later on move in day, Invitation Homes texted us regarding additional work that still needed to be performed, including painting the garage floor and checking other items.

We documented the property's condition extensively through photographs, emails, inspection records and maintenance requests.

Issues have included damaged/stained countertops, problems with appliances, lack of hot water at a bathroom sink, exterior electrical problems, damage to the screened enclosure, writing/markings on walls, leaking dishwasher, and other conditions.

3. Repeated maintenance scheduling problems

We submitted at least 10 maintenance requests within the first 30 days after move-in, none of which were completed to date.

There were appointments that were cancelled or rescheduled after we made ourselves available. These service windows required someone to remain home essentially the entire business day.

There were also situations where a vendor's initial visit was apparently only to inspect or photograph the problem so that Invitation Homes could approve the repair, potentially requiring another appointment afterward.

While waiting for one of these canceled maintenance requests I was mowing the front lawn when an Invitation Homes work van drove by my house and minutes later my appointment was canceled on me. I immediately called the maintenance phone number to which I was told " we came to the house and nobody was home". I was in shock.

After repeatedly explaining that I could not continue taking weekdays away from work (I took at least full 3 days off to be home within the first month of move in) , weekend service was discussed. Vendors nevertheless continued attempting to schedule certain work during the week, and all my work orders went unresolved/cancelled.

4. A cancelled work order followed by a warning about a future "chargeback"

One maintenance communication is particularly concerning to me.

The work order involving my screened enclosure was cancelled. The communication stated, referring to the local office:

"Please note that if resident creates another w/o, it will now be a chargeback."

In other words, after the repair wasn't completed and I was being warned that submitting another work order concerning the issue could result in a chargeback.

That is especially troubling when a resident contends that the condition was pre-existing and has documentation supporting when it was reported.

5. Still no community pool key/access

We also reported that we had not been provided the key necessary to access the community pool/amenities.

Invitation Homes told us it would address the key and let us know when the process was complete.

To date we still do not have the pool key.

We are paying to live in a community with amenities we have been unable to access.

6. Paid air-filter service that repeatedly didn't work properly

Our lease also includes a recurring air-filter delivery service that we pay monthly for.

We initially did not receive the filters as expected. After contacting the third-party provider, additional filters were sent, but they were the wrong size despite us providing the correct size.

It is another relatively small issue by itself, but when combined with everything else, it illustrates the broader problem: residents pay recurring fees for services and then have to spend their own time chasing down the service they're already paying for. We received 3 air filters since move in and only just recently got one that is the correct size.

This does not appear to be an isolated experience

I started looking at recent Better Business Bureau complaints involving Invitation Homes.

The BBB currently displays more than 1,800 complaints on one Invitation Homes profile, including hundreds categorized as service or repair issues. Recent complaints describe allegations involving delayed maintenance, repeated maintenance visits, chargebacks, appliance problems, move-in condition issues and residents losing time waiting for service appointments.

Obviously, a BBB complaint is an allegation from an individual consumer and doesn't establish that everything alleged is true. But the volume and similarity of some of the complaints are difficult to ignore.

That's particularly concerning given what already happened with the FTC.

So my question is: what has actually changed?

If residents are still reporting homes delivered with significant outstanding conditions, repeated maintenance problems, questionable chargebacks, inaccessible amenities and leasing disclosures that they believe were incomplete, perhaps regulators need to take another look.

I believe the FTC and other appropriate regulators should examine current resident experiences to determine whether additional enforcement or consumer relief is warranted.

I'm looking for other residents and attorneys

If you currently rent from Invitation Homes or rented from them recently, I'd particularly like to hear from you if you experienced anything similar to me.

I'm also interested in speaking with attorneys. If you are or know a Florida consumer-protection, landlord-tenant, or class-action attorney who would be willing to review documented experiences from multiple Invitation Homes residents and determine whether there is a viable individual or broader action.

I have retained extensive documentation of my own experience, including emails, photographs, maintenance records, work-order histories, move-in documentation and the communication concerning the potential maintenance chargeback.

I'm not claiming that every resident has had the same experience and I'm not asking anyone to accept my legal conclusions. I'm asking whether other residents have experienced the same patterns and whether the evidence warrants another serious look by attorneys and regulators.

If you've dealt with something similar, I'd like to hear your story.

For the actual Reddit post, I would put the FTC and BBB sources in a pinned comment or at the bottom so readers can independently verify the broader claims:

• FTC: Invitation Homes settlement and consumer refunds
• FTC: 2024 enforcement action against Invitation Homes
• BBB: Invitation Homes complaints