BlackRock, other investment firms 'killing the dream' of home ownership, journalist says (lawyer, suspect)

[andrea3821]

I have mixed feelings on this. The Invitation Homes of the country decimate the markets they are in. We rented from them for a year ~2016-17 in Atlanta and they weren’t horrible but they did raise the rent quite a lot (like almost 50%?) at renewal and we said no way. It was an average split level 3/2/2 at the end of a cul de sac in Dallas, so it was great for our family and was initially affordable. I wasn’t a huge fan of the split level but if they hadn’t wanted to raise the rent so much, we likely would have stayed. It was right when I ended up due with a baby and they would not let us extend for 1-2 months without paying like an extra $250/mo fee. I understand a short term rate but it’s not really a short term lease, just an extension. I was pretty distraught with all of it bc of the hormones and whatnot. We moved with a 3wk old baby and the first week was spent laying in bed bc I had a spinal headache…hubby had to go out of town bc our own renters up and left early, didn’t have a care in the world and trashed our house right before I gave birth so he had no choice but to use his days off to go deal with that 5 hours away…I was at home with a 5yo, 3yo, 18mo, and the newborn, with my aunt trying her hardest to help hold down the fort. Maybe I have a chip on my shoulder bc of the hard time I was going through but it would have been less chaotic if we could have just had an extra month or two to get our **** in order without going from $9xx rent to $16xx.

ANYWAY, normally I don’t fall back on anecdotes but while we were looking for a new place, we ran into this other large company and they would list homes for rent, have you pay your app fee, and then tell you it was already taken but that you could apply your fee to another unit. Um, we did not want any others and they ghosted me. I had to do a dispute on on my credit card.

I know some markets are just full of these companies and I would never live in a city like that again. I really prefer a “little guy” landlord who doesn’t have xyz procedures that ignore that life happens. As a landlord, we always tried not to be like that, but it did lead to us getting screwed a few times. I don’t have the answers but a happy medium somehow would be good.

Reason I have mixed feelings is that I also believe in the unencumbered free market. Regulations and tax laws always favor the big corps rather than the little guys and that’s wrong. But I also recognize that generational poverty is a real problem and making home ownership more accessible could be a good thing. But I also believe in pulling yourself up by your bootstraps and doing what you can with opportunities you do have instead of making excuses. Soooooo…not sure where that leaves me on this one. Lol Overall, I think these companies are bad and possibly unethical but they should not be illegal.

[Haksel257]

Originally Posted by andrea3821

Reason I have mixed feelings is that I also believe in the unencumbered free market. Regulations and tax laws always favor the big corps rather than the little guys and that’s wrong. But I also recognize that generational poverty is a real problem and making home ownership more accessible could be a good thing. But I also believe in pulling yourself up by your bootstraps and doing what you can with opportunities you do have instead of making excuses. Soooooo…not sure where that leaves me on this one. Lol Overall, I think these companies are bad and possibly unethical but they should not be illegal.

Not meaning this in a snarky way, but that's cognitive dissonance. Free markets are effortlessly efficient, but they are absolutely not a barometer of ethics. Balancing ludicrous wealth inequality does not have to mean a lazy sloth class sucking the middle class dry. Virtually all of this fallout is directly and indirectly caused by people of elite wealth leveraging their insane power to pillage every corner of the Earth (actually, you can consider the space market being cornered in 100 years), ethics and other people be darned. That doesn't look like freedom to me, it looks like a dystopia. When are we going to face reality instead of hanging on to ideologies? History says never.

[beach43ofus]

Originally Posted by Haksel257

Isn't that worse? Housing is the main component of any livelihood, behind food and water. Or do we (universal we) subconsciously take the human factor out of the clinically economical equation?

Its all about ROI...any human factor, so long as its not illegal, is inconsequential to Big Biz & Big Gov't...& even some small businesses & gov'ts.

Its called the free market, and nobody ever claimed it was caring, or fair. It's just better than any other system, so we deal w/ it the best we can.

The feds repeatedly causing bubbles, recessions, inflation, corruption, & massive debt, is more callous to humans imho than the free market economy. The gov't is supposed to be for the people, not against us. Businesses are just trying to maximize profits, they make very few promises otherwise.

[Coolhand68]

So where are the democrats who claim to be for the working class? The democrats who will regulate just about everything else in our lives from emissions, the foods we can eat, predatory lending, mask mandates, recycling, business permits, but a basic necessity like housing is allowed to be exploited to make the greedy investors billionaires instead of millionaires.

[dsjj251]

Originally Posted by Coolhand68

So where are the democrats who claim to be for the working class? The democrats who will regulate just about everything else in our lives from emissions, the foods we can eat, predatory lending, mask mandates, recycling, business permits, but a basic necessity like housing is allowed to be exploited to make the greedy investors billionaires instead of millionaires.

You are blaming Democrats for the Faircloth amendment and thats laughable.


Also, how exactly do you propose Dems stop these companies from buying these homes ?

[Mad_Jasper]

Originally Posted by sholomar

If I was in charge I'd break up all the large entities buying up residential single family real estate and pass laws preventing it. I'm not a pure free market no regulations capitalist.. you need to keep the power of corporations in check as you do the power of government. They are often both too big for their own good.

It was once considered a privilege to incorporate. Corporations were tightly restricted by Congress, whereas now both republicans and democrats are controlled corporations. I think Americans would be better off if America returned to it's corporate roots.

• Corporate charters (licenses to exist) were granted for a limited time and could be revoked promptly for violating laws.
  
• Corporations could engage only in activities necessary to fulfill their chartered purpose.
  
• Corporations could not own stock in other corporations nor own any property that was not essential to fulfilling their chartered purpose.
  
• Corporations were often terminated if they exceeded their authority or caused public harm.
  
• Owners and managers were responsible for criminal acts committed on the job.
  
• Corporations could not make any political or charitable contributions nor spend money to influence law-making.

[pete98146]

Originally Posted by dsjj251

You are blaming Democrats for the Faircloth amendment and thats laughable.


Also, how exactly do you propose Dems stop these companies from buying these homes ?

It’s impossible. Blackrock is/are the oligarchs. If you can’t see this is precursor to “you will own nothing and be happy” you are simply blind. They own and you rent. Get used to it.

[anononcty]

Been happening. There were already numerous corporate owned large complexes and buildings. Throw in the individual flippers of course Wall Street will want in to play the flip or rent game.

[dsjj251]

Originally Posted by pete98146

It’s impossible. Blackrock is/are the oligarchs. If you can’t see this is precursor to “you will own nothing and be happy” you are simply blind. They own and you rent. Get used to it.

Its not even that. BlackRock basically does the Disney thing. Some Regional manager has 35 LLC where he is a 51% controlling partner with 500 other people working there and as soon as the houses are bought and sold, they dissolves the LLC.

The moment you try to regulate LLCs on that level, all heck would break lose.

[BobNJ1960]

I wonder how many distress home sales the last 2 years were caused by eviction moratoriums abused by freeloaders who then stopped paying rent, even as they stayed working. PE backed home buying firms likely gobbled many of them up.