- Foxen’s new Renter Value Report found 75% of U.S. renters are willing to pay monthly fees for services like rent reporting, damage protection and pet-friendly perks.
- Despite general satisfaction with lease disclosures, 55% of renters said they were still surprised by at least one fee, pointing to a persistent transparency gap.
- Choice ranked nearly as important as price in determining whether a fee feels fair, suggesting operators can grow ancillary revenue without alienating residents.
Nearly 1,000 U.S. renters weighed in on ancillary service fees, and most are open to paying them, according to a new Renter Value Report from Foxen, a Columbus, Ohio-based multifamily proptech firm. The survey found that 75% of renters will pay extra each month for services like rent reporting, property damage protection and pet-friendly perks, but only if the terms are spelled out clearly and the resident retains control over enrollment.
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The Trust Gap
The willingness to pay comes with a catch: renters need to feel in control. Fees are more palatable when they’re clearly explained, adjustable and easy to cancel, the report found. Without that framing, added charges read as hidden costs rather than optional upgrades, a distinction that shapes whether residents trust the fee at all.
That sense of control is closely tied to how renters experience the leasing process itself. Nearly 70% said they felt empowered the last time they signed or renewed a lease, but those who didn’t were also less likely to say they had a real choice in which services they paid for. In other words, the fee conversation starts well before move-in, at the point renters first sit down with a leasing agent.
The Details
The survey polled 914 renters between June 16 and June 24, 2026, and screened out low-quality responses with an attention-check question. Among the findings: 94% of respondents viewed property damage protection as at least somewhat valuable, and 91% said the same of rent reporting, two of the ancillary services Foxen itself sells to multifamily operators.
Yet even with broad support for existing lease terms (90% said they understood which fees were included in rent, and 82% understood which services cost extra), 55% were still surprised by at least one charge. Two-thirds of renters said a self-service portal to review, enroll in or opt out of add-ons would make them more likely to participate in the first place.
Zooming Out
The findings land as operators lean harder on ancillary income to pad NOI in a market where renters have more leverage thanks to cooling apartment supply. That shift raises the stakes for how fees are pitched to residents. A renter with more options elsewhere is quicker to walk, or at least complain, about a charge that feels sprung on them at lease signing or renewal.
It also puts pressure on operators to standardize how ancillary fees are disclosed. Regulatory scrutiny of junk fees in housing has intensified in several states over the past two years, and a rental market that runs on inconsistent, property-by-property fee structures becomes a harder story to defend to regulators and residents alike.
Why It Matters
“Operators are trying to figure out how to offer the NOI-building ancillary services residents want, without catching them off guard when rent is due,” said Foxen CEO Kevin Jacobson. “Transparency is the clear answer, but true transparency doesn’t end with a well-outlined lease. It takes consistent, clear resident communication.”
Foxen has been expanding its own ancillary lineup, including a recent pet insurance partnership, betting that renters will pay for services that protect their finances if the pitch is honest about cost and choice. Having the option to opt in mattered to 43% of renters, edging out a fair price for the value (41%) as the top factor in whether a fee feels worth paying.
Jacobson said the communication has to hold up across the entire resident lifecycle, not just at signing. “Whether it’s a brand-new renter signing their first lease or a long-term resident renewing for the fifth time, operators should clearly communicate the value these offerings deliver and provide renters with choices,” he said.
What’s Next
Foxen said roughly 70% of renters are comfortable with AI-powered tools handling routine tasks like fee questions, maintenance requests and renewal reminders. Paired with the appetite for self-service portals, that points to automated, always-on communication as the next lever operators pull to close the transparency gap without adding headcount, particularly for portfolios juggling dozens of different ancillary programs across properties.
