Seattle Bans Pet Rent and Other 'Junk Fees' — And Colorado May Be Next

Property managers are getting squeezed from both sides right now. Costs go up. Scrutiny goes up. And now, lawmakers are telling you which fees you can charge. Seattle just banned pet rent. Colorado may be heading the same direction. This is not a small shift. It is a signal that the entire fee structure of residential property management is under review.

Here is what we think: this is actually good news for professional property managers. Stay with us.

What Seattle Just Did

Seattle passed a law banning what it calls "junk fees" charged by landlords. That includes pet rent, according to KING5. Pet rent has been a common revenue line for landlords and property managers for years. Under this new law, landlords operating in Seattle cannot charge it.

This means property managers in Seattle need to audit their lease agreements right now. Every fee schedule needs a review. Any charge that cannot be tied directly to a real cost or clearly disclosed service is at risk.

This is not a small compliance tweak. It is a structural change to how Seattle landlords get paid.

What Is Happening in Colorado

Seattle is not alone. In Colorado, a tenant has filed a lawsuit arguing that state law already prohibits apartment management companies from charging undisclosed ancillary fees. According to Law360, the case could set a major precedent for how property managers structure and disclose fees across the state.

The lawsuit targets administrative charges and ancillary fees that were not clearly disclosed upfront. If the tenant wins, Colorado property managers may face a legal requirement to overhaul how they present and justify every fee they charge.

Colorado property managers should treat this lawsuit as a warning shot, not a distant legal curiosity.

This Is Not Isolated. This Is a Trend.

Seattle. Colorado. Illinois. The pattern is clear. Legislators and tenants are pushing back against fees that feel hidden, unexplained, or arbitrary. We have written before about how Illinois is moving toward its own junk fee ban and landlord licensing requirements in 2026. That article is worth reading if you manage properties in the Midwest.

The political logic here is simple. "Junk fees" is an easy story for lawmakers to tell. It sounds like they are protecting renters from shady landlords. And honestly, some of the practices being targeted deserve scrutiny. Fees buried in fine print. Charges that appear after lease signing. Pet rent with no connection to actual costs.

We are not going to pretend this trend feels comfortable. Losing a revenue line hurts. But here is the honest take: the fee practices being targeted are exactly the ones that have made the whole industry look bad.

The Real Opportunity for Property Managers

Here is how we frame this. Professional property managers who charge fair, transparent, and well-documented fees have nothing to fear from these laws. In fact, they benefit.

When pet rent and mystery admin fees get banned, the landlords who relied on those charges to stay competitive suddenly have to compete on real value. That means management quality. Communication. Maintenance response times. Owner reporting. The things that actual professionals are already doing.

This regulation is a market correction that rewards good operators.

We have written about how ancillary fees work in property management and how to structure them in ways that are clear and defensible. The answer is not to eliminate all ancillary revenue. The answer is to make sure every fee you charge can be explained in one sentence to a judge, a tenant, or a journalist.

That is not a high bar. But right now, a lot of operators in this industry cannot clear it.

What Should Change in Your Business

We want to be direct about what property managers should do in response to this trend.

First, audit your fee schedule. Look at every charge in your lease agreements and management contracts. If you cannot explain why the fee exists and what it covers, that fee is a liability.

Second, tie fees to real costs. Pet fees should reflect actual wear and cleaning costs. Admin fees should reflect real admin work. If the math does not hold up, rethink the fee.

Third, read up on behavioral fee structures. There is a legitimate way to charge fees that reward good tenant behavior and recover costs from bad behavior. We have covered how behavioral fees work in property management and it is worth understanding before these laws come to your market.

Fourth, watch what happens in Colorado. That lawsuit will likely produce a ruling or settlement in the next year or two. The outcome will tell us a lot about how far courts are willing to go on fee disclosure requirements.

The Bottom Line

Property managers are undervalued professionals. The work is hard. The liability is real. The hours are long. You deserve to get paid fairly for what you do.

But getting paid fairly means getting paid in ways that hold up to scrutiny. Transparent fees tied to real services are defensible. Hidden charges and vague line items are not.

Seattle has drawn a line. Colorado may draw one too. The property managers who thrive in this environment will be the ones who already built their fee structures on solid ground.

That is actually a good thing for the profession. It just requires some work to get there.

Related Reading:

• Illinois Rental Junk Fee Ban and Landlord Licensing: What to Know Before 2026
• How Ancillary Fees Work in Property Management
• Behavioral Fees in Property Management: A Better Model