A recent study by UCLA reveals alarming trends in the Los Angeles rental market, particularly affecting Black tenants in neighborhoods with modest Black populations, such as Hollywood, Woodland Hills, and Koreatown.
Conducted by Alexander Ferrer, a researcher at the UCLA Luskin Institute on Inequality and Democracy, the study finds that Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs)—publicly traded companies that own residential and commercial properties—are disproportionately evicting Black tenants.
REITs manage around 1.5 million housing units across the nation and attract investment from major hedge funds, asset management firms like Vanguard and Blackstone, and individual stock market investors.
During the COVID pandemic, these landlords faced challenges in the rental market and responded by lowering security deposits and relaxing credit and income screening requirements.
In an effort to maintain occupancy levels, they accepted higher turnover rates while charging increased rent each month.
Ferrer emphasizes that while these practices appear to be colorblind and race-neutral, they exacerbate existing inequalities that disproportionately impact Black individuals.
“The issue is that when inequality is really severe and racialized, the economic strategies landlords employ ultimately affect Black tenants more adversely,” Ferrer explains.
The study sheds light on personal accounts from renters who have suffered its consequences, including Tai’Leah and Tay’Laur Paige, two sisters who faced eviction from a North Hollywood property owned by Equity Residential.
They rented a two-bedroom unit for $3,404 month-to-month, with a $600 security deposit shared among three people.
As the Hollywood writers and actors strike began, the sisters lost 50% of their income, further complicating their financial situation.
The city approved them for a rent relief program, intended to cover six months of unpaid rent.
However, Equity Residential refused to negotiate with them regarding the potential relief funds.
“They would not talk to us like we were humans,” Tai’Leah Paige recounts.
During the eviction process, they informed the court that they had been approved for rent relief after facing delays in receiving funding.
Despite this validation, the company contested the relief.
The eviction process dragged on for nine to ten months, and during this time, the property management company “closed off the payment portal,” making it impossible for the sisters to pay rent.
Eventually, they left the property, but their financial troubles remained.
“$50K is now on our credit because that’s what it eventually grew to,” Tay’Laur emphasizes.
The sisters have since faced severe hardship, living in hotels and eventually their car before moving in with siblings in Orange County.
The impact on their credit scores has been devastating.
“We have slim chances of securing another apartment,” Tai’Leah Paige notes.
Tay’Laur reflects on the compounded obstacles they face, stating, “It just feels like a wall you can’t get over because you cannot find a job, you can’t get your own apartment.
It just created a whole domino effect that just keeps tumbling down.”
Ferrer’s research indicates that the Paiges’ experience is not unique.
Many tenants reported falling behind on rent due to economic disruptions, whether from the pandemic or other events like strikes, and encountered unyielding landlords.
These landlords often refuse to arrange payment plans or allow partial payments, contributing to prolonged court cases and significant rent debts.
Ferrer points out that it has become commonplace for those he spoke to to have over $10,000 in rent debt—historically an unusual burden for renters.
In light of these findings, Ferrer argues for the necessity of canceling rent debts for impacted tenants and removing eviction records from their history to aid in their recovery from this crisis.
This study raises profound questions about the relationship between economic practices of REITs and their impact on vulnerable communities, urging for necessary changes to protect tenants.
image source from：kcrw
