PROGRESS FOR WHO?

The report documents a pattern of exploitative practices by Progress Residential, including high eviction rates, neglect of home maintenance, and the imposition of exorbitant fees. It highlights the company's rapid expansion in the U.S. South and its role in the National Rental Home Council (NRHC), arguing that these corporate landlords prioritize profit over tenant well-being and contribute to the racial wealth gap by limiting homeownership opportunities.

• Progress Residential has grown to become the largest single-family rental company in the U.S., managing over 90,000 homes as of March 2023. The company's growth has been rapid, acquiring up to 2,000 homes per month since January 2021.
• The company has a history of filing evictions on questionable grounds, including during the federal COVID-19 eviction moratorium. A U.S. House Select Subcommittee report found that Progress and its subsidiaries filed over 6,000 evictions during the first 16 months of the pandemic, sometimes for rent arrears as low as $500 to $1,000.
• Progress Residential is accused of systemic neglect of property maintenance, leading to hazardous living conditions. In Minnesota, the Attorney General sued the company for failing to repair homes with issues such as backed-up sewers, mold, and lack of heat, while the City of Columbia Heights revoked a subsidiary's rental license due to safety violations including broken smoke detectors and faulty wiring.
• The company employs a fee structure that tenants describe as predatory and exorbitant. Examples include a $125 late fee, a $125 lease administration fee, a $200 eviction administration fee, and a $75 'trip fee' for maintenance visits.
• Progress Residential's expansion is heavily concentrated in the U.S. South, with three-quarters of its homes located in six southern states. In Tennessee, the company holds over 7,700 homes, and in some Nashville neighborhoods, it owns the majority of the properties.
• The report argues that corporate home buying by firms like Progress Residential exacerbates the racial wealth gap by pricing out individual homebuyers, particularly Black residents. In Tennessee, Black homeownership rates decreased by an estimated 6% between 2010 and 2020 while white rates remained constant.

APA

Bankson, M., Ash, J., & Chew, A. (2023). PROGRESS FOR WHO? Private Equity Stakeholder Project. https://pestakeholder.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/PESP_Report_NRHC_Progress_April2023_final-1.pdf

Chicago

Bankson, Mad, Jordan Ash, and Amee Chew. PROGRESS FOR WHO? Private Equity Stakeholder Project, 2023. https://pestakeholder.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/PESP_Report_NRHC_Progress_April2023_final-1.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Bankson |first1=Mad |last2=Ash |first2=Jordan |last3=Chew |first3=Amee |title=PROGRESS FOR WHO? |publisher=Private Equity Stakeholder Project |date=April 2023 |url=https://pestakeholder.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/PESP_Report_NRHC_Progress_April2023_final-1.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{bankson2023progress, author = {Bankson, Mad and Ash, Jordan and Chew, Amee}, title = {{PROGRESS FOR WHO?}}, institution = {Private Equity Stakeholder Project}, year = {2023}, month = apr, url = {https://pestakeholder.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/PESP_Report_NRHC_Progress_April2023_final-1.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }