In this weekly property‑management news briefing, Peter Lohmann reports on five key items. First, the Federal Trade Commission announced plans to solicit public comment on a potential rule to stop deceptive or unfair rental‑housing fees, a move that could affect the apartment industry. Second, Rentvine’s user conference is scheduled for May 13‑14 in Tampa, Florida, inviting its customers to learn more about the platform. Third, a Florida property manager was arrested for alleged theft and forgery exceeding $600,000 across multiple condo associations, underscoring the need for stronger state licensing requirements. Fourth, national apartment rents have fallen to a four‑year low (median $1,353, down 1.5% YoY) while vacancy has risen to a record 7.3%, reflecting increased supply and a supply‑driven affordability trend. Finally, Lohmann announces the return of the informal “Peter and the Wolf Live” show, slated for Thursday, offering industry banter and a preview of upcoming plans. The briefing blends regulatory updates, market data, legal news, event promotion, and community engagement.
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I'm Peter Lohmann, and this is your property management news for the week. The FTC announced they intend to regulate rental housing fees. Let me read you this comment from FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson. Quote, we will be soliciting public comment on the need for a new rule to prevent the imposition of deceptive or unfair fees on renters seeking long-term housing options, end quote. So that's squarely aimed at us and our friends in the apartment industry. Don't really have any details yet. I know the NAA published a nice article on this at the end of last week, but this could get really interesting. So let's keep an eye on it. In other news, Rentvine's user conference is coming up. It is going to be May 13th for a couple of days down in Tampa, Florida. So if you're a Rentvine customer, if you're interested in learning more about Rentvine, probably want to jump on that and go down there and check it out. Property managers behaving badly. A Florida property manager was arrested in conjunction with theft from a condo association. In excess of $600,000. Basically, this guy was arrested twice for similar charges in other condo communities, which is mind-blowing. He was accused of forging signatures on more than 350 checks and legal documents, even redirecting some insurance payouts to him personally. And this kind of highlights some of the need for state regulation and licensing requirements. Not all 50 states require property managers to be licensed, which is pretty interesting., and I don't think that's right. In other news, apartment rents are at their lowest level in 4 years. So of course we're mostly managing rental homes, but the apartment market kind of mirrors pretty closely what we've experienced as well. National median rent for apartments was $1,353, which is down about 1.5% compared to a year ago, which is pretty surprising. I mean, normally you would see rents go up just about every year., but right now they're declining and that's due to more supply entering the market. The fastest way to make housing more affordable is just to build more of it. It's a simple supply and demand issue. Make it easier to build and manage housing and you will see the price of housing come down. And you're seeing a little bit of that happen right now due to all the supply that was in the pipeline for the last few years. Vacancy is up to 7.3%. That's a record high since apartment lists started tracking this in 2017. So record high vacancy, and I know a lot of you are, are feeling that in your leasing timelines as well. So yeah, you're not alone if you've been having trouble leasing some of your properties. This might be something you could share with your property owners if they're kind of skeptical on are you really giving your best effort at leasing. And finally, excited to announce that Peter and the Wolf Live is returning on Thursday. We're excited to bring this show back. It's a bit of a casual, more of an informal show. We just kind of banter back and forth about, you know, whatever's going on in the industry. And on Thursday's show, we're going to be kind of giving a preview of the year ahead, some of the plans for our companies. You can register for that if you click the link in my newsletter, and I hope to see you there. Have a great week.
