TOOLS FOR TACKLING CORPORATE LANDLORDS

The report argues that private equity firms prioritize high returns (at least 15%) over short timelines (3-5 years), leading to deferred maintenance and increased tenant instability. It proposes a toolkit of interventions, including rental registries with beneficial ownership disclosure, just cause eviction protections, landlord licensing with portfolio caps, and right of first refusal legislation. The document also examines federal legislative attempts to curb consolidation through tax penalties and transfer taxes, while highlighting the challenge of state preemption of local housing justice measures.

• Private equity firms typically employ a business model that seeks returns of at least 15% within a short 3-5 year window, which often results in maximizing revenue by 'deferring maintenance, skirting regulations, and saddling tenants with junk fees.'
• Effective rental registries should include detailed property and owner information and must provide public access to beneficial ownership data to allow advocates and regulators to identify the ultimate owners of LLCs.
• Just cause eviction laws, which require landlords to provide a specific legal reason for eviction, are identified as essential tools to prevent 'arbitrary, retaliatory, or discriminatory evictions' often used by corporate landlords to increase profits.
• Landlord licensing can be used not only for health and safety but as a mechanism to cap the number of properties a single entity can operate, potentially denying new licenses to landlords who exceed a specific unit count threshold.
• Right of first refusal (or Tenant Opportunity to Purchase) legislation aims to counter the 'unfair advantage' corporate landlords have in the home buying process due to larger budgets and faster loan procurement.
• Several federal bills have been introduced to curb consolidation, including the End Hedge Fund Control of American Homes Act, which proposed a $20,000 federal tax penalty for companies owning over 100 single family homes.
• State preemption remains a significant barrier to local housing justice, making the rollback of these state-level restrictions a 'north star' for housing advocates.

APA

Noble, C., & Bankson, M. (2024). TOOLS FOR TACKLING CORPORATE LANDLORDS. Private Equity Stakeholder Project. https://pestakeholder.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/PESP_Report_Housing-Policy-Primer_2024.pdf

Chicago

Noble, Chris, and Madeline Bankson. TOOLS FOR TACKLING CORPORATE LANDLORDS. Private Equity Stakeholder Project, 2024. https://pestakeholder.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/PESP_Report_Housing-Policy-Primer_2024.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Noble |first1=Chris |last2=Bankson |first2=Madeline |title=TOOLS FOR TACKLING CORPORATE LANDLORDS |publisher=Private Equity Stakeholder Project |date=December 2024 |url=https://pestakeholder.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/PESP_Report_Housing-Policy-Primer_2024.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{noble2024tools, author = {Noble, Chris and Bankson, Madeline}, title = {{TOOLS FOR TACKLING CORPORATE LANDLORDS}}, institution = {Private Equity Stakeholder Project}, year = {2024}, month = dec, url = {https://pestakeholder.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/PESP_Report_Housing-Policy-Primer_2024.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }