NC congresswoman seeks solutions on corporate landlords after Observer, N&O investigation
US Rep. Alma Adams expressed concern on Thursday over the encroachment of corporate landlords that are buying single-family homes and converting them to rentals, a growing industry that has proliferated in the Charlotte area over the last decade.
Adams made these comments during her questioning of Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen about affordable housing during Thursday’s House Financial Services Committee meeting.
“In my district, Charlotte-Mecklenburg, private equity firms have been snapping up single-family homes and converting them to rental properties,” Adams said. “The average value of those properties are only two-thirds of the average single family home. So that means that private equity firms are squeezing the less affluent out of the home-buying market.”
Adams’ comments follow the publication last week of Security for Sale, an investigation by The Charlotte Observer and The News & Observer that revealed the scale of corporate landlords in North Carolina and their impacts on tenants and communities.
The congresswoman cited findings from the investigation, including that about 20 large investors have bought more than 40,000 single-family homes across the state in the past decade. Adams said she was concerned about the impact these companies have on affordable housing.
In response, Yellen called the dearth of affordable housing across the country a “crisis.”
“I’m seeing huge shortages in affordable housing, especially in high-priced areas of the country,” Yellen said during the meeting. “And I think we need to do everything we can to address the shortage.”
During her exchange with Yellen, Adams entered the Security for Sale series into the Congressional record, along with Charlotte-based stories from the New York Times and Washington Post.
Adams, a Democrat, urged her House colleagues to sign onto a bill she and her fellow N.C. Congressman David Rouzer introduced in March called the Lifeline Act. That legislation would allow COVID stimulus funds to be used to develop affordable housing.
Adams’ spokesman, Sam Spencer, said Thursday that the congresswoman was also looking into steps that could be taken to address the rise of corporate landlords. He said such provisions could be included in a future bill.
“It’s clear there is a problem,” Spencer said about the impact of these investors. “The congresswoman is signed on to find solutions to make housing more affordable.”
While corporate landlords have been active in North Carolina for about a decade, the issue has only recently become a hot topic for local officials. No action to restrain the companies has been taken locally, though some may be on the horizon.
Mecklenburg County commissioners are currently studying what they might be able to do to address the industry, whose leaders say they are merely expanding rental options for local residents. Charlotte city leaders say they’re evaluating the impact of corporate landlords through a wider housing affordability lens.
After the investigation published last week, Raleigh Mayor Pro-Tem Nicole Stewart said the city needs to track how many homes are owned by large investors and called for efforts to do something to put those homes in the hands of people who need affordable housing.
As they wait for action at the local, state and federal levels, residents and communities are still wrestling with how to deal with corporate landlords. The Observer and The News & Observer hosted a virtual event on Wednesday night attended by hundreds of people who asked dozens of questions about how to respond to this rising industry.
As Adams showed in her comments on Thursday, this is a question in Washington too.
Note: This story was updated to clarify the bill in which future provisions regarding corporate landlords could be included.
This story was originally published May 12, 2022 at 3:23 PM.