Check your rent bill: You could be paying a -2-

Entrata says 2.5 million units are enrolled in its operating system, but the company offers a suite of property-management services beyond RentPlus, including payment processing and rental insurance. Proptech giant RealPage also offers rent reporting to tenants, as do Rental Kharma, Esusu and Foxen, none of which immediately responded to MarketWatch's request for comment.

If a tenant finds fees for third-party services on their rent bill, they can contact the property manager to demand the fee be removed. Because the tech platforms often manage the subscriptions independently, tenants often must also go directly to the provider's website - such as RentPlus.com - to formally submit an opt-out request and stop the automated billing cycle.

Advocates warn that until federal regulators crack down more aggressively on opt-out fee models, the burden will remain entirely on everyday consumers to audit their own bills for junk fees.

"It's really a systematic issue, and it costs renters thousands of dollars a year," Dempsey said.

Read next: Want the lowest mortgage rate you can get? Credit-scoring changes mean home buyers need a new strategy.

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06-03-26 0930ET