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HOUSING CRISIS - Invitation Homes, a corporate landlord that’s routinely getting into major trouble, has agreed to an eye-popping $48-million settlement with the Federal Trade Commission for “unlawful behavior against renters.” Through its wholly owned subsidiary, THR Property Management, Invitation Homes has also contributed $500,000 to the California Apartment Association Issues Committee, which finances the No on Prop 33 and Yes on Prop 34 campaigns. It’s yet another example of scandal-plagued corporate landlords working to kill the expansion of rent control in California and silence AIDS Healthcare Foundation.
Proposition 33, sponsored by AIDS Healthcare Foundation, is a November ballot measure that repeals statewide rent control restrictions and allows cities to expand rent regulations. It’s been endorsed by a broad coalition of housing justice groups, labor unions, social justice organizations, and civic leaders, including the California Democratic Party, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, and labor and civil rights icon Dolores Huerta.
Proposition 34, sponsored by the California Apartment Association and financed by many of the largest corporate landlords in the nation, seeks to silence AIDS Healthcare Foundation’s housing advocacy work on rent control and other tenant protections. The measure has been denounced by the San Francisco Chronicle, the Bakersfield Californian, and other newspapers, including The Mercury News, which described Prop 34 as the “Revenge of the Landlords.”
The California Apartment Association Issues Committee funds both No on 33 – Californians for Responsible Housing sponsored by the California Apartment Association and Yes on 34 – Protect Patients Now sponsored by the California Apartment Association. In a kind of shell game, corporate landlords, such as Essex Property Trust, Equity Residential, and Invitation Homes, contribute campaign cash to the California Apartment Association Issues Committee, which then sends corporate landlord money to No on 33 and Yes on 34.
Invitation Homes used its subsidiary, THR Property Management, to contribute $500,000 to the California Apartment Association Issues Committee, according to state filings. Unsurprisingly, Invitation Homes, led by CEO Dallas Tanner (pictured above), was trying to avoid public scrutiny by making contributions through THR Property Management.
That kind of slick maneuvering is what got Invitation Homes into trouble with the Federal Trade Commission.
In a press release from September 24, headlined “FTC Takes Action Against Invitation Homes for Deceiving Renters, Charging Junk Fees, Withholding Security Deposits, and Employing Unfair Eviction Practices,” the FTC announced that the corporate landlord has “agreed to a proposed settlement order that would require the company to turn over $48 million to be used to refund consumers harmed by its actions.”
The FTC added: “The corporate landlord will also be required to clearly disclose its leasing prices, establish policies and procedures to handle security deposit refunds fairly, and stop other unlawful behavior.”
FTC Chair Lina M. Khan said in a statement: “Invitation Homes, the nation’s largest single-family home landlord, preyed on tenants through a variety of unfair and deceptive tactics, from saddling people with hidden fees and unjustly withholding security deposits to misleading people about eviction policies during the pandemic and even pursuing eviction proceedings after people had moved out.”
She also noted: “No American should pay more for rent or be kicked out of their home because of illegal tactics by corporate landlords.”
Read the full press release for all the shocking details about Invitation Homes’ predatory treatment of tenants.
The newest Invitation Homes scandal is another red flag for California voters: scandal-plagued corporate landlords are not only trying to stop Prop 33, but they’re also working to silence AIDS Healthcare Foundation through Prop 34. It’s why activists and labor unions urge Californians to vote “yes” on Prop 33 and “no” on Prop 34.
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(Patrick Range McDonald, author and journalist, Best Activism Journalism: Los Angeles Press Club, Journalist of the Year: Los Angeles Press Club, Public Service Award: Association of Alternative Newsmedia, advocacy journalist for Housing is a Human Right, and a contributor to CityWatch.)
