rich 1.0 Action Network https://actionnetwork.org <link href='https://actionnetwork.org/css/style-embed-v3.css' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css' /><script src='https://actionnetwork.org/widgets/v6/letter/end-hedge-fund-control-of-american-homes-act?format=js&source=widget'></script><div id='can-letter-area-end-hedge-fund-control-of-american-homes-act' style='width: 100%'><!-- this div is the target for our HTML insertion --></div> More Perfect Union https://actionnetwork.org/groups/more-perfect-union https://can2-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/share_options/facebook_images/000/452/472/original/MPU_Blackstone_Rent.jpg Wall Street hedge funds and private equity firms are purchasing single-family homes in neighborhoods across the country, making it more difficult for middle-class Americans to become homeowners. It’s also contributing to America’s twin crises of housing unaffordability and wealth inequality. In 2011, no single entity owned over 1,000 single-family rental units. But, by June 2022, the Urban Institute estimates that large Wall Street hedge funds and private equity firms owned roughly 574,000 single-family homes! To meet investors’ return expectations, Wall Street maximizes profits by imposing high rent increases, inflating fees, and delaying home maintenance and improvements, which of course also diminishes the quality of housing over time. Our neighborhoods should be homes for people, not profit centers for Wall Street. Yet, in every corner of the country, giant financial corporations are buying up housing and driving up both rents and home prices. Congress needs to put in place common sense guardrails that ensure all families have a fair chance to buy or rent a decent home in their community at a price they can afford. Now, Senator Jeff Merkley and Congressman Adam Smith have introduced the End Hedge Fund Control of American Homes Act to make it happen. Click ‘Start Writing’ to sign and send a direct message calling on your members of Congress in both the House and Senate to co-sponsor and pass the End Hedge Fund Control of American Homes Act now. https://actionnetwork.org/letters/end-hedge-fund-control-of-american-homes-act