Home Depot’s Rental Damage Protection Fee

Our TINA.org staffer has no regrets about buying a shag rug. While the style may have fallen out of fashion decades ago, its plush pile has cushioned countless tumbles by his two young children.

But recently, the rug was in dire need of a deep cleaning. (In addition to said children, our staffer has a dog that perpetually sheds.)

So he headed to Home Depot to rent a carpet cleaner. He chose $28 for four hours, as advertised on a rental price list provided at the counter. When he returned it, though, he was surprised to find an additional charge of $4.20 for “damage protection” on his bill, along with a disclaimer that the fee costs 15% of the rental subtotal. This was not something he knowingly signed up for and it was not included in the advertised price.

Turns out, his experience is not entirely unique.

Last April, a consumer sued Home Depot alleging the home improvement retailer breached its contract with him when it “force placed ‘Damage Protection’ despite it being expressly labelled an ‘optional service.’” The consumer alleged that when he made a rental reservation on Home Depot’s website, he declined the coverage but was still charged $8.85 for damage protection.

Last month, the court dismissed the lawsuit ruling that Home Depot did not breach its rental agreement. Crucially, the court did not dispute that the consumer declined damage protection when he made the online reservation but that he accepted coverage when he signed the actual rental agreement in the store.

“It may be sneaky to include this charge as the default and to require renters to notice and remove it, but the agreement does not preclude this,” the court said.

While the court did not find Home Depot liable for breach of contract, the fact that this damage protection fee isn’t being adequately disclosed to consumers (like our staffer) is a cause for concern.

Notably, the lawsuit did not address whether or not Home Depot engages in misleading advertising when it lists a price without including or disclosing the seemingly mandatory damage protection fee.

So Home Depot may not have much of an incentive to change its ways any time soon. This means that consumers need to stay vigilant and look out for hidden fees and important terms buried in fine print when making purchases or booking rentals.

Home Depot did not respond to a request for comment.

Find more of our coverage on fine print.