Blackstone raised rents double the market average in San Diego, report says

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

[Uncle Joe]

1. A little background on Blackstone

Blackstone Inc. is an American alternative investment management company based in New York City. Blackstone's private equity business has been one of the largest investors in leveraged buyouts in the last three decades, while its real estate business has actively acquired commercial real estate across the globe. Blackstone is also active in credit, infrastructure, hedge funds, secondaries, growth equity, and insurance solutions. As of May 2024, Blackstone has more than US$1 trillion in total assets under management, making it the largest alternative investment firm globally.[2]

Blackstone was founded in 1985 as a mergers and acquisitions firm by Peter G. Peterson and Stephen A. Schwarzman, who had previously worked together at Lehman Brothers.

(snip)

United Nations condemnation of the Invitation Homes project and lobbying efforts

In 2019, a United Nations report found that Blackstone's massive purchasing of single-family homes after the 2007–2008 financial crisis had "devastating consequences".[198] The report alleged that Blackstone had abused tenants with exorbitant fees, rent hikes, and aggressive eviction practices, and that Blackstone's real estate practices had a disproportionate impact on communities of color, in part because the company targeted foreclosures resulting from subprime loans.

The report also condemned Blackstone for "using its significant resources and political leverage to undermine domestic laws and policies that would in fact improve access to adequate housing". Blackstone spent at least $6.2 million to defeat California's Proposition 10, which would have allowed cities to enact rent control. Blackstone is a member of the Real Estate Roundtable, a special interest group that spends millions on lobbying and political donations every year.[199]

United Nations housing rapporteur Leilani Farha and UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights chair Surya Deva criticized Blackstone's business practices, including frequent rent increases and "aggressive" evictions, for contributing to the global housing crisis. Blackstone disputed these claims.[200]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackstone_Inc.

Thanks for the thread Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin

[SWBTATTReg]

2. Hmmm, perhaps activists need to start organizing, and get this foul company out of San Diego, doesn't seem

like they are very neighborly.

[GiqueCee]

3. Private Equity is a cancer...

... they drive home and rental prices through the roof, and it's the reason so many hospitals have closed. They destroy everything they touch.

[SWBTATTReg]

4. Every thing they are touching they blatantly distort the economics of the particular area 'they' decide

to invest in, and this leads to a temporary market uptick for those assets that they decide on their own, that are worth investing in. So, they get tons of people also jumping in to invest in the same assets, all of which leads to a jump in asset values all across the board, and then, viola! The company decides, no, it's not a good investment and dumps it all, all before the rest of the suckers can unload their shares.

In short, it's a simple pump and dump situation. I hope the SEC catches them doing this.

At least this time around, I think that they got caught in the crashing housing markets in a few areas, thus, they got burned there. I am glad that they did get burned. If they are looking for more investment opportunities, don't create 'fake' investment scenarios, but perhaps put the money into distressed businesses, maybe improve the businesses, and repeat. Don't pump and dump.

[GiqueCee]

5. Doing GOOD with their money?!!?

I guarantee you that these people think the Sun shines out of Ayn Rand's bony dead ass. She HATED altruism in any and every form. She was one of the vilest people I ever met, if only for a millisecond after I heard her speak, against my will (my bosses in '68 or '69, whenever it was, were rabid "Objectivists" and thought they were enlightening me by dragging me to listen to her insult everyone around her) She was a pig.
Anyway, you're right; they have to be stopped.