Jordan McLaughlin has lived in Columbus 15 years. He saved up money while renting and made the decision to buy a house. “I put in bids that were well above the asking price, but just kept getting beat by others making all cash offers without any inspection.”
“The average family can’t compete against private equity. It made me angry.”
Welcome to Columbus; where private equity now owns about 20 percent (over 7000) single-family homes.
Not because they want to make your city better, but because they rent them back to families to make a profit. This isn’t news. Private equity has quietly been buying up single family homes across the country.
The goal for private equity is to own everything.
But now, Jordan and others have decided to do something about it.
Monday, February 23 he and other supporters took their concerns to Columbus City Hall and asked City Council for help. “If we do nothing every single-family home in Columbus will soon be owned by private equity. Their only goal in life is to make a profit,” said Jordan.
The response from City Council?
Council members sat above him in their comfortable chairs and seemed to agree with the points he made. Normally, members of City Council say nothing. They just sit there and hear what you have to say; and often do nothing.
“We asked them to take our idea of limiting the number of single-family homes that private equity can own in the city to the City Attorney to see if it's legal.”
“Other options include creating a vacancy tax on homes or adding a moratorium of 90 days before an offer can be made by private equity. The best news is that Columbus is creating a Rental Registry and that will help.”
Want to Learn More?
www.evictprivateequity.com
evictpivateequity@gmail.com
Didn’t ZoneIn Solve This Problem?
No. ZoneIn is about changing the zoning for the entire city to allow more mixed-use and multi-level buildings (without any parking requirement).
During Phase I of ZoneIn City Hall employees had a script of marketing “catch-phrases” (manufactured by the 2.7 million of tax dollars and a professional marketing company they hired) they kept repeating such as:
- “We need more of everything. This is about supply and demand!”
- “This is a housing emergency and every decision must happen as fast as possible!”
Did any of their “catch-phrases” mention how private equity was driving up the price of an average single-family home?
Of course not.
That important factor has been ignored by ZoneIn. In fact, ZoneIn has no plans to respond to this problem; even though it’s an important part of city planning and development. Thank Jordan for bringing this to light and asking City Hall to do their jobs to better protect us from private equity.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen. I want to take this state-wide. Too early to take a guess, but for now private equity sees every city as a big cash register.”
Feb 23 City Council video: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1G7Y35ojZq/
Contact City Council and tell them what you think:
Shannon G. Hardin, Council President - District 9
Jessica Clinger, Legislative Aide
(614) 645-6354
jnclinger@columbus.gov
Linda Capobianco, Legislative Assistant
(614) 645-2726
lmcapobianco@columbus.gov
Rob Dorans, President Pro Tem - District 3
radorans@columbus.gov
Andie McDonald, Legislative Aide
(614) 645-7994
abmcdonald@columbus.gov
Ariel Garrett, Legislative Analyst
(614) 724-2037
algarrett@columbus.gov
Nicholas J. Bankston, Councilmember - District 5
Jean-Philippe B. Dorval, Legislative Aide
(614) 645-2898
jpdorval@columbus.gov
Jonathan Brown, Legislative Analyst
(614) 645-8867
jbbrown@columbus.gov
Lourdes Barroso de Padilla, Councilmember - District 8
Jessica Caceres, Legislative Aide
(614) 645-7032
jicaceres@columbus.gov
Amaris Lemus, Legislative Analyst
(614) 645-7938
aslemus@columbus.gov
Nancy Day-Achauer, Councilmember - District 2
Jacob Dilley, Legislative Aide
(614)-645-5292
jadilley@columbus.gov
Marwah Warsame, Legislative Analyst
(614) 724-1260
mawarsame@columbus.gov
Melissa Green, Councilmember - District 6
Haley Gerken, Legislative Aide
(614) 645-0076
hegerken@columbus.gov
John Drury, Legislative Analyst
(614) 645-1319
jadrury@columbus.gov
Emmanuel V. Remy, Councilmember - District 4
Pedro Mejia, Legislative Aide
(614) 645-7576
pdmejia@columbus.gov
Nancy Sully, Legislative Analyst
(614) 645-2010
npsully@columbus.gov
Tiara N. Ross, Councilmember - District 7
Mercedes Wiley, Legislative Aide
(614) 645-6546
mdwiley@columbus.gov
Ciera Adams, Legislative Analyst
(614) 645-3773
csadams@columbus.gov
Christopher L. Wyche, Councilmember - District 1
Chelsea Golterman, Legislative Aide
(614) 645-3091
clgolterman@columbus.gov
Emiliana Morales, Legislative Analyst
(614) 645-2566
emmorales@columbus.gov
John Tannous,Chief of Staff
(614) 645-1687
jdtannous@columbus.gov
