Washington, D.C. — The Justice Department announced today that Greystar Management Services, the nation’s largest property management company, will pay over $1.4 million for unlawful charges on military service members.
“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 in the press release. “We are aggressively enforcing all laws, including the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, to protect our military servicemembers and veterans.”
The department said that the $1.4 million is to resolve allegations for violating the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA). The company allegedly imposed fees on military service members after they ended their leases following military relocation orders. The company, which manages over 800,000 housing units, allegedly used a software that would automatically charge early termination fees on SCRA-protected servicemembers.
Greystar will pay affected military members and co-tenants with $1.35 million, paying triple damages to servicemembers who paid early termination fees. The property management company will also pay a $77,370 civil penalty and change its policies and training. The changes include new SCRA-approved software and forms at all properties.
