Thread by @MorePerfectUS

Thread: Private equity is involved in everything now, including housing.

Alden Global Capital has spent over $275 million on buying up more than 10,000 manufactured housing units to hike rent, enact junk fees, and evict people when they can’t pay.

Here’s how it went down 🧵

Alden Global Capital, already well known for buying and then shuttering physical newsrooms and leaving journalists without a place to do their work, have in recent years upped the ante by buying up housing units across 17 states.
aljazeera.com/economy/2024/3…

These buy-ups are especially prominent in Illinois, Michigan, and Florida, with the latter being home to almost half of all of units now owned by Alden via Homes of America. Since 2021, Alden has issued eviction notices more than 285 times, with 68% resulting in orders to vacate.

That’s a significantly higher rate than the national average, which sits at around 43%.
nlihc.org/coronavirus-an…

Part of the reason why this might be happening is because the rent in some of Alden’s units is being raised by significant amounts. In some cases, residents report that rent was hiked by over 99%.

Alden Global Capital in some cases also doubled the rate of fees on things such as trash collection and electricity, causing additional headache for residents who are just trying to get by on a day to day basis.

To read some of the personal stories of residents whose homes have been purchased by Alden Global Capital and other private equity firms, you can read the report below
pestakeholder.org/reports/vultur…

Some states are hoping to change the law to prevent things like this from happening in the future, with Michigan in particular leading the charge with legislative proposals that would rewrite the rules for evictions and rent and fee rates. static1.squarespace.com/static/63068ce…