The Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs heard horror stories from tenants across the country as some call for more government oversight.
As outside investors snap up thousands of area homes and turn them into rentals, the growing practice is taking center stage at the nation’s capital.
A Charlotte Journalism Collaborative investigation recently identified Wall Street-backed landlords that have acquired homes in the area, often offering cash over asking price.
On Wednesday, a Washington Post investigation found Black neighborhoods are disproportionately affected by the practice. The Post’s investigation found, over the last six years, investors doubled the percentage of homes they bought in Charlotte. In northwest Charlotte’s 28214 zip code more than half of all home sales went to these rental companies, instead of individual buyers, according to the newspaper’s findings.
Just last week, the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs heard institutional landlord horror stories from across the country. Just two days later, the committee learned more about how institutional landlords are impacting the housing market.
Action NC Housing Justice Organizer Jessica Maria Moreno says there’s a growing call for more oversight of corporate landlords, which include single-family rental companies. A Charlotte Journalism Collaborative analysis found SFR companies acquired at least 4,100 homes, condos and townhouses in a five-county area over a 12-month period. That equates to roughly 5% of all sales.
“We’re really trying to get people together and to stop them, to slow them down,” Moreno said. “There has to be some oversight. Their goal is profit and so, what we’re seeing is that every single year, someone that’s been living in a property, maybe starts at $1,200, in a couple years they’re paying $1,900, close to $2,000 for rent.”
This story is part of I Can’t Afford to Live Here, a collaborative reporting project focused on solutions to the affordable housing crisis in Charlotte.