I was interviewed for an episode of “Plot of Land”, a podcast produced by Monument Lab. The episode I contributed to also incudes sociologist Daniel Aldana Cohen, tenant movement leader Tara Raghuveer, and senator Nikil Saval, and explores how private equity markets and real estate invested trusts have transformed home.

This essay examines the University of California’s $4.5 billion investment in the Blackstone real estate investment trust. The retreat of state investment propels universities into private markets, which they begin to see as the solution to public problems. In the process, the various functions of the university become bifurcated and operate as distinct domains, often with opposing logics and interests.

The single-family rental (SFR) industry became a new site of institutional investment in the aftermath of the 2008 foreclosure crisis. In this report we examine SEC filings and quarterly investor calls for Invitation Homes, American Homes 4 Rent, Tricon American Homes, and Front Yard Residential to trace how institutional narratives and market strategies have evolved in the SFR asset class. What does it mean for the rest of us when a handful of landlords have so much power?

I was interviewed for an episode of “Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America”, a podcast produced by KQED public radio. The episode I contributed to is called “The Landlord's Game: Who Has the Power to Evict?” and explores how corporate landlords shift the power relations of the rental market.

In January 2022 I published “Tech and finance firms buying up homes doesn’t bode well for everyone else”, an op-ed in The Washington Post. I examine the collapse of Zillow’s iBuying business and the opportunities it has created for corporate landlords. As iBuyers, corporate landlords and click-and-invest platforms all seek to speed up housing investments, it is vital to reflect on whose interests are served by this acceleration, and whether its consequences are worthwhile for the rest of us. We know what’s in it for Wall Street and Silicon Valley.

In October 2021, I testified before the United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. The focus of the hearing was “How Private Equity Landlords are Changing the Housing Market” My testimony focuses on both the direct effects of corporate ownership of single-family rental homes for tenants and owner-occupiers, and their broader consequences for communities and the housing market in general.