U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff held a hearing in Atlanta Monday to hear from renters who say they were treated unfairly by corporate landlords. It’s part of his investigation into Georgia’s housing crisis, and the corporations that he says own thirty percent of single-family rental homes in Georgia, driving up prices.
“Georgia families have reported to my office that they’re being squeezed out of the housing market as large companies buy up Georgia homes in bulk, and drive up home prices,” Ossoff said. “ And then the very same families who are priced out of the housing market, because it is so dominated by these large, out-of-state companies, are forced to rent from these same companies, who in some neighborhoods own more than 90 percent of single-family rental homes.”
Shayna Brooks-Wilhite says two gas leaks in her home set off her carbon monoxide alarm in December of last year. The company that owns it did not fix the leak until January.
“We're not humans to them. We're dollar sign. I felt so desperate that I withheld my rent. Not to be defiant. But in hopes that someone from the property management team would finally reach out to me. And repair the gas leak,” according to Brooks-Wilhite.
Ossoff says over 160 people have reached out to his office to report abuse from corporate landlords.
