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Several people in winter clothing stand outdoors on a sunny day holding signs. At center, a light-skinned woman in late middle age holds a sign that says "Safe Homes for All," written in red paint. Other people, partly visible, hold printed signs calling for rent control. Behind the protesters are hemlock trees and beyond them, partly visible, are tall buildings.
Policy

‘Renters Are Struggling’: Economists Back Tenant-Led Push for Federal Rent Control

“We have seen corporate landlords—who own a larger share of the rental market than ever before—use inflation as an excuse to hike rents and reap excess profits beyond what should be considered fair and reasonable.”

Under a blue sky, in a large arching gateway is suspended a banner that reads "End Rent Burden." Below it is a line of 11 picketers holding signs that say "UAW on Strike: Unfair Labor Practice." A passerby is talking to one of the picketers.
Opinion

Tenants Rights Advance in California

Reaction to the housing crisis in California has led to a series of gains for tenants, including a new Renters’ Caucus.

A person holding eggs.
Opinion

Egg Prices and Rents—What Do They Have in Common?

Avian flu gave companies cover to price gouge. Could the attention to lack of housing supply do the same for landlords?

View from across the intersection of a rundown-looking corner in Baltimore, all two-story rowhouses. Some windows are boarded up. There are no cars or people in the scene.
Organizing

Building Tenant Power: A Growing Movement Rises in Baltimore

Tenant organizing in Baltimore today is building on a rich legacy of tenant resistance in the city where residential redlining made its debut.

Community Development Field

Shelterforce’s Top 10 Stories of 2022

Background explainers, affordability restrictions, and race and belonging topped the list of our most-read pieces of the year.

A close-up view of two electronic doorbells on a brick wall. The bricks are painted red and blue in a pattern that the viewer is too close to to see. The doorbells, which are grubby-looking, have paper stickers next to them reading Apartment #1 or Apartment #2.
Reported Article

Is Everything in Your Lease Legal? Quite Possibly Not

Some leases plainly contradict state law or include questionable, punitive, or egregiously anti-tenant clauses.

An ad for Shelterforce's webinar, "Fighting Back Against Corporate Landlords." We had four speakers.
Interview

Fighting Back Against Corporate Landlords—A Shelterforce Webinar

Shelterforce recently hosted a conversation about how to fight, and win, against corporate landlords and their extractive business models. Watch the video or read the transcript.

Practitioner Voice

Corporate Landlords Profit from Segregation, at Cost of Black Homeownership and Wealth

As more and more affordable homes are gobbled up by corporate landlords, prospective Black homebuyers are seeing opportunities for homeownership dry up.

Opinion

When Landlords Hide Behind LLCs

It’s difficult to know who owns a property because corporate landlords and investors tend to structure their business as limited liability companies, or LLCs.

Opinion

Unmasking the Property Owners

There’s a reason land ownership is a matter of public record—but at the moment the records we have aren’t actually doing the job.

An illustration of homes on a conveyor belt going through a machine and coming out as golden homes. Green dollar bills are coming out of the homes. This illustrates the financialization of housing.
Opinion

The Financialization of Housing and Its Implications for Community Development

Over the last two decades homeowners and investors have increasingly treated housing as a financial asset, like stocks or bonds. How has this changed the housing market for the worse, and how can we fix it?

An illustration showing the word "financialization" in a bubble.
Housing

What Is the Financialization of Housing?

It’s a wonky term with real-life consequences. At its most basic level, the “financialization of housing” means treating a home like a financial asset first, and a place to live second. But there are many more perspectives.