The Real Dirt is a regular 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 the inaugural …
‘3 Ps’ is a Winning Solution for the Housing Affordability Crisis
For years, Housing Is A Human Right and our parent organization, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, have been advocating for the “3 Ps” to address the housing affordability crisis in the United States. While corporate landlords and …
Nation’s Largest Corporate Landlords Use California Apartment Association to Make Outsized Profits
The California Apartment Association often frames itself as a defender of mom-and-pop landlords, but that’s anything but the truth. Research shows time and again that many of the nation’s largest corporate landlords use the CAA …
Rent-Stabilization Laws Are Essential for Protecting Tenants, Say Experts
Last fall, Brian Callaci and Sandeep Vaheesan, of the Open Markets Institute, wrote a must-read white paper on ways to solve the housing affordability crisis. Published in the Harvard Business Review, it made clear that …
Senators Call for Investigation Into Rent Gouging of Military Families Through RealPage Software
U.S. senators Elizabeth Warren and Ruben Gallego have recently sent a letter to the Department of Defense calling for an investigation into whether landlords are using RealPage software to rent gouge military families. Over the …
Big Real Estate Raised $171.6 Million to Kill Prop 33 and Pass Prop 34
For the 2024 election, Big Real Estate raised a whopping total of $171.6 million to kill Proposition 33 and pass Proposition 34 in California. Several of the top contributors are the country’s largest corporate landlords. …
California Apartment Association Carries Out Dirty Work for Corporate Landlords
In 2022, corporate landlords Essex Property Trust, Equity Residential, and AvalonBay Communities, three of the largest apartment owners in the United States, quietly carried out a shell game with the California Apartment Association to kill …
California Apartment Association Carries Out Statewide Attack on Tenant Protections
For years, the California Apartment Association, the front group for corporate landlords, has carried out a statewide attack on tenant protections — no matter who gets hurt. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the organization even fought temporary safeguards …
Corporate Landlords and California Apartment Association Are Public Menaces
When it comes to devastating the lives of Californians, corporate landlords and the California Apartment Association are the worst kind of public menaces. That’s not a stretch. No other industry has done as much destruction …
Exclusive: Top Ten Contributors to No on Prop 33 and Yes on Prop 34 in California
It gets little, if any, media coverage, but a small group of corporate landlords are overwhelmingly funding the No on Prop 33 and Yes on Prop 34 campaigns in California. Additionally, several of those companies …