Since 2001, the Ellis Act, a controversial state law that allows landlords to evict tenants in rent-controlled buildings and turn them into pricey condominiums and boutique hotels, has devastated Los Angeles’s affordable housing stock. From …
The Real Estate Industry Continues to Use the Ellis Act to Destroy Affordable Housing in California
The real estate industry continues to use a little-known state law called the Ellis Act to destroy tens of thousands of affordable housing apartments in California, fueling the housing affordability and homelessness crises. Housing activists …
Will U.S. Tenants Learn From Pro-Rent Control Demonstration in England?
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?
Are 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 …
Rent Stabilization is an ‘Effective Approach,’ Says Top Urban Planning Professor
Recently, 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
Nearly 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 …
Corporate Landlords Delivered Big Cash to Little-Known California Apartment Association Committee in 2025
In 2025, corporate landlords, many of whom are among the largest in the United States, delivered major cash to the California Apartment Association Independent Expenditure. That little-known political committee is used by Big Real Estate …
Rent Control is One Part of the Answer
Whenever 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
The 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
The 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, …