On Monday, a coalition of renters, housing groups and local leaders launched a new campaign to rein in hedge funds and other corporate landlords that have been buying up Georgia homes and turning starter houses into big rental portfolios. Organizers say the effort will zero in first on metro Atlanta neighborhoods where corporate buying has already shifted who can afford to live there.
The campaign is being led by the Housing Justice League. The coalition, which calls itself End the Corporate Takeover, says corporate landlords now hold roughly a third of single-family rental homes in metro Atlanta and more than 22 percent of the state's apartment units, according to End the Corporate Takeover.
"These levels of market concentration have allowed these companies to establish local monopolies," geographer Taylor Shelton told Channel 2 Action News. Organizers also told Channel 2 they plan a renters' town hall at the end of May to start building pressure on lawmakers, as reported by WSB-TV.
What organizers want
The End the Corporate Takeover campaign lays out a wish list that would put some firm guardrails on the rental market. The agenda includes caps on how many residential properties a single corporate landlord can own in a county, bans on algorithmic rent-setting software, limits on so-called junk fees, rental registries and stronger tenant protections and remedies. Those priorities are detailed on the campaign's policy page, according to End the Corporate Takeover.
Lawmakers and the legal path
Organizers say real change will ultimately need to come from the statehouse, since Georgia law currently blocks local governments from adopting rent stabilization. Advocates have repeatedly cited that statewide preemption as they push for reform. Legislative trackers show Senate Bill 125 sought to repeal that ban but did not pass last session, as recorded by LegiScan, and local coverage has followed tenants and organizers pressing for both rent-stabilization and portfolio-cap measures, according to Georgia renters rally for rent control.
How to get involved
The coalition is collecting tenant stories, petitions and volunteers and is planning public events across the region. The Housing Justice League maintains an events page with sign-up and volunteer details, according to Housing Justice League. Renters looking for help organizing or learning their rights can use a plain-language tenant guide from the Atlanta Economic Justice Program of the American Friends Service Committee, according to AFSC.
Organizers say they plan to turn petition signatures and town-hall turnout into a coordinated push at the Gold Dome next year. "Legislators on both sides of the aisle and in every district around this state now realize that things have to change," Matthew Nursey of the Housing Justice League said, as reported by WSB-TV.
