Tony StarkIt’s good to see this issue is getting more attention. These private equity firms and hedge funds are destructive. They are turning themselves into multi-billionaires at everyone else’s expense. There is no practical regulation of this type of “business” but there should be.
Firms can just write off vacancies. Some don’t even need to collect rent to make a return on their investment. After owning a property for a year, the rent they collect is “long term capital gains” and can, in some instances be taxed at 0%.
The tax cuts that went into effect in 2018 helped caused this. Republicans gifted the industry with the lowest rates. So of course private equity is gobbling up housing supply and laughing all the way to the bank.
Private equity firms have become a scourge. They remove the competition and leave consumers with no choices. Just another example of why regulation is necessary.
Rising rents were a crisis for tenants. For Starwood, they were a gift-
https://wapo.st/3vsYz2p
Rising rents were a crisis for tenants. For landlord Starwood, they were a gift.
Private equity firms and private real estate trusts surged into the apartment market in the decade before the recent run-up in rent prices. As landlords, they imposed and benefited from the significant rent increases.
Pam Rickel