Greedy corporate landlords and shady realtors
funnel tens of millions into campaigns to stop rent control and get
revenge on nonprofit championing it
Scandal-plagued contributors from the real estate industry have
contributed a shocking $102.5 million so far to kill Proposition 33
and pass Proposition 34 in California. The controversial donors
include Essex Property Trust and Equity Residential, two of the
largest corporate landlords in the country that are both mired in
the ongoing RealPage scandal, and the California Association of
Realtors, which is the focus of a formal inquiry by the Department
of Justice for possible anti-consumer violations. In addition, the
National Association of Realtors, which has recently faced major
scandals ranging from sexual harassment to illegally inflated real
estate commissions, also has contributed to a No on Prop 33
committee.
Proposition 33, sponsored by AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF)
and now endorsed by more than 100 elected and formerly elected
officials in California as well as more than 70 labor, senior,
veteran, healthcare, and tenant groups, is just 23 words: "The
state may not limit the right of any city, county, or city and
county to maintain, enact or expand residential rent control.” Prop
33 also has the support of the California Democratic party, labor
icon Dolores Huerta, and U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders.
Corporate landlords want to stop Prop 33 so they can continue to
charge sky-high rents, year after year, and rake in billions in
revenue off hard-working California tenants.
Proposition 34, financed by the many of the largest corporate
landlords in the nation, seeks to silence AHF’s housing advocacy
work on rent control and other tenant protections. The San
Francisco Chronicle called Prop 34 “cheap political gamesmanship
that doesn’t belong on the ballot.” The San Diego Tribune called it
a “vengeful attempt funded by landlords” that “sets a terrible
precedent.” The Bakersfield Californian says Prop 34 is about
“political rivalry.” The Mercury News calls it “Revenge of the
Landlords.” And the LA Times describes Prop 34 as a “…murky,
self-serving ballot measure,” adding “ [T]he misuse of the ballot …
recently reached a … new low.”
The California Apartment Association Issues Committee funds both
No on 33 - Californians for Responsible Housing sponsored by the
California Apartment Association (No on 33) and Yes on 34 - Protect
Patients Now sponsored by the California Apartment Association (Yes
on 33).
In a kind of shell game, corporate landlords, such as Essex
Property Trust and Equity Residential, have contributed millions in
campaign cash to the California Apartment Association Issues
Committee. The California Apartment Association, led by CEO Tom
Bannon, then moves that corporate landlord money to No on 33 and
Yes on 34.
To date, the California Apartment Association Issues Committee
has raised $75,582,683, according to campaign filings at the
California Secretary of State website.
Major contributors to that political action committee include
Essex Property Trust, Equity Residential, Greystar, UDR, and Camden
Property Trust. The corporate landlords are not only the largest in
the country, but formed a cartel through a RealPage software
program to wildly inflate rents in cities across the United States,
impacting millions of tenants.
The Department of Justice and eight state attorneys general
recently filed a high-profile lawsuit against RealPage, making
headlines across the country. Also, RealPage, Essex Property Trust,
Equity Residential, Greystar, UDR, and Camden Property Trust have
faced local and state investigations and numerous antitrust laws by
tenants.
In addition, No on 33 - Homeownership for Families sponsored by
the California Association of Realtors has raised $27 million,
according to campaign filings at the California Secretary of State
website. The National Association of Realtors has contributed $5
million to that No on 33 committee. The California Association of
Realtors, which also contributed $250,000 to Yes on 34, is led by
President Melanie Barker.
The combined totals from No on 33 - Homeownership for Families
sponsored by the California Association of Realtors and the
California Apartment Association Issues Committees add up to
$102,582,683.
Essex Property Trust and Equity Residential are the top two
contributors to the California Apartment Association Issues
Committee.
Essex Property Trust, based in San Mateo, California and helmed
by President and CEO Angela Kleiman, is the thirteen largest
corporate landlord in the U.S. and has shelled out $18,155,200. One
of its top executives, John Eudy, sits on the California Apartment
Association's board of directors. Essex Property Trust has the
reputation for outrageously raising rents throughout California.
Tenants in Fremont actually sued Essex for improperly increasing
rents and allowing bad living conditions. The lawsuit was settled
in 2016.
Equity Residential, headquartered in Chicago and led by CEO Mark
Parrell, is the sixth largest corporate landlord in the country and
has spent $13,086,400. One of its top executives, Barry Altshuler,
sits on the California Apartment Association's board of directors.
Equity LifeStyle Properties, a division that operates mobile-home
communities, is known for excessively increasing rents on senior
citizens. One activist group described it as "gouging Grandma."
In the end, the massive contributions show that Essex Property
Trust and Equity Residential, two of the largest corporate
landlords in the U.S., not only are leading the charge to kill rent
control expansion in California but also to silence AHF, a global
nonprofit that provides free HIV drug treatment to patients in
South Africa, Cambodia, Mexico, India, the United States, and
dozens of other countries and saves millions of lives around the
globe.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240920036285/en/
Ged Kenslea, AHF Senior Communications Director 323.791.5526
ged.kenslea@ahf.org