Activists and tenants in England have called for a nationwide, pro-rent control demonstration, taking place next month on April 18. More than 40 organizations, including the London Renters Union and Greater Manchester Tenants Union, are


Are Big Real Estate and YIMBYs Totally Wrong About How to Solve the Housing Affordability Crisis?
In News by Patrick Range McDonald / Mar. 06, 2026Are Big Real Estate and YIMBYs totally wrong about their never-ending push to solve the housing affordability crisis through a trickle-down agenda? Housing Is A Human Right and many housing justice groups believe so, and

Essex Property Trust Spent $60.1M to Kill Rent Control and Influence Politicians in California
In News by Patrick Range McDonald / Feb. 25, 2026A Housing Is A Human Right investigation has found that between 2018 and 2025, Essex Property Trust, one of the largest corporate landlords in the United States, shelled out a whopping $60.1 million in campaign

Rent Stabilization is an ‘Effective Approach,’ Says Top Urban Planning Professor
In News by Patrick Range McDonald / Feb. 13, 2026Recently, Edward Goetz, an award-winning professor of urban and regional planning and director of Center for Urban and Regional Affairs at the University of Minnesota, wrote an important op-ed for the Boston Globe. In it,

Zillow’s Chief Economist is Still Right About the Dire Need for More Affordable Housing
In News by Patrick Range McDonald / Feb. 05, 2026Nearly 10 years ago, on July 28, 2016, Zillow Chief Economist Dr. Svenja Gudell released a “Zillow analysis” about the kinds of apartments built in America – luxury units compared to affordable. It was a

Rent Control is One Part of the Answer
In News by Patrick Range McDonald / Jan. 16, 2026Whenever billionaire corporate landlords and YIMBYs counter pro-rent control advocates, they routinely use a false argument: rent control alone won’t solve the housing affordability crisis. It’s a false argument because housing activists have never made

The Real Dirt: RealPage Scandal, Predatory Landlords, People Power
In News by Patrick Range McDonald / Oct. 30, 2025The Real Dirt is a monthly column by award-winning advocacy journalist Patrick Range McDonald that exposes the real estate industry’s lies, scams, and other unscrupulous acts, which impact the lives of millions. It’s been three years since

The Real Dirt: Capital Realty Group, Billionaire Steve Schwarzman, Corporate YIMBYs
In News by Patrick Range McDonald / Sep. 30, 2025The Real Dirt is a monthly column by award-winning advocacy journalist Patrick Range McDonald that exposes the real estate industry’s lies, scams, and other unscrupulous acts, which impact the lives of millions. For the past several weeks,

Tenants and Activists Around the World Must Band Together to Fight Corporate Landlords
In News by Patrick Range McDonald / Sep. 24, 2025One of the big stories developing in the United States recently is that tenants and activists in cities all over the country have been banding together to fight Capital Realty Group, a New York-based corporate

The Real Dirt: The Shady Dealings of Corporate Landlords and California Apartment Association
In News by Patrick Range McDonald / Aug. 27, 2025The Real Dirt is a monthly column by award-winning advocacy journalist Patrick Range McDonald that exposes the real estate industry’s lies, scams, and other unscrupulous acts, which impact the lives of millions. Many of the largest corporate
