Corporate home buyers raising rents and prices in Newark, report says; city vows action

Steve Strunsky

4 May, 2022

Purchases of residential properties in Newark by corporate entities has caused rents to rise and owner-occupancy to fall, according to a new Rutgers study, prompting city officials to announce countermeasures.

The action includes transparency requirements for buyers and a surcharge on rent increases even for houses and apartments not subject to rent control.

The trend, which largely involves single-family and 2, 3 and 4-unit houses or apartment buildings, is alarming, researchers say, because rising rents in the distressed areas of Newark where it’s focused puts added pressure on renters struggling with lingering unemployment or economic slowdown linked to the pandemic. Officials said those added pressures could lead to increased homelessness, dislocation, and other forms of neighborhood and housing instability.

Other consequences of corporate ownership could include physical deterioration of the property and tenants’ living conditions and a readiness to evict tenants with delinquencies, said David Troutt, director of the Rutgers Center on Law, Inequality, and Metropolitan Equity in Newark, which released the study on Monday.

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Corporate home buyers raising rents and prices in Newark, report says; city vows action