Washington D.C. — Government watchdog Accountable.US released a new analysis finding several private equity and investment firms that have aggressively bought up single-family homes since the 2008 Financial Crisis have spent nearly $12 million lobbying against housing reforms that would impact their bottom lines, while the largest publicly traded firms have seen their real estate investment funds grow dramatically since the start of the pandemic. Tenants of these corporate landlords have reported feeling “stuck in homes they don’t own,” as they suffer from inadequate maintenance and unnecessary fees in order to maximize corporate profits. The report comes as the U.S. House Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations holds a hearing today, ‘Where Have All the Houses Gone? Private Equity, Single Family Rentals, and America’s Neighborhood’.

The same private equity firms that hoarded single family homes in the wake of the financial crisis are now fueling an affordable housing crisis – spending millions lobbying against reforms that bring down costs while they tack on needless tenant fees and cut corners on maintenance. It’s yet another way corporate greed is driving up costs for everyday families, and those in Congress who prefer to collect checks from big corporate landlords rather than support affordable housing efforts are every bit as responsible for it."

Liz Zelnick, Accountable.US Economy spokesperson

Accountable.US’ latest report follows its recent analysis of the ten largest publicly traded apartment companies by number of units, which found that they all raised rent prices and collectively saw their total 2021 fiscal year net incomes soar by 57% to nearly $5 billion. The top executives of these same companies also reported that their total compensation in the same period swelled by nearly 23% to over $66.5 million, helping them maintain lavish homes valued at a total of almost $103 million. Accountable.US has documented extensively how pandemic profiteering and corporate greed from the big oil, meatpacking, shipping, retail, clothing, food, trucking and railroad companies are all making inflation and supply chain challenges worse for everyday consumers.

 

KEY FINDINGS FROM ACCOUNTABLE.US: 

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