{"id":540,"date":"2024-06-12T17:22:09","date_gmt":"2024-06-12T17:22:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filipzajac.me\/?p=540"},"modified":"2024-06-17T03:00:30","modified_gmt":"2024-06-17T03:00:30","slug":"large-apartment-companies-linked-to-rental-fixing-scheme-continued-to-profit-this-year-analysis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/filipzajac.me\/index.php\/2024\/06\/12\/large-apartment-companies-linked-to-rental-fixing-scheme-continued-to-profit-this-year-analysis\/","title":{"rendered":"Large apartment companies linked to rental fixing scheme continued to profit this year: Analysis"},"content":{"rendered":"
The six largest publicly traded apartment companies in the U.S. \u2014 all of which are linked to an alleged rental price-fixing scandal<\/a> \u2014 experienced profit increases during the first three months of the year, according to an analysis from left-leaning watchdog group Accountable US<\/a> exclusively shared with The Hill. \u00a0<\/p>\n In the analysis, the companies earned a combined $300 million in profit during the first quarter of the year, in part, due to rent increases.\u00a0<\/p>\n Mid-America Apartments, the largest publicly traded apartment owner in the U.S., earned $147.6 million between January and March, a 5.4 percent increase<\/a> from the same time last year. \u00a0<\/p>\n Similarly, AvalonBay Communities, the country\u2019s second-largest apartment company, reported $173.4 million in profits in March, a roughly 18 percent increase<\/a> from what the company earned the same time last year. \u00a0<\/p>\n The company\u2019s \u201crental and other income\u201d revenue increased to about $711 million during the first quarter of the year, a 5.6 percent increase from the same time last year, according to a press release<\/a> from AvalonBay Communities. \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe feel well positioned as we enter the peak leasing season, given low turnover, solid occupancy and positive rental rate momentum,\u201d AvalonBay Communities CEO Benjamin Schall said in a call focused on the company’s earnings earlier this year.<\/a> \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cBig corporate landlords have kept right on raising rent on everyday families regardless of how high their profits have grown. Adding insult to injury, many landlords rewarded a small group of wealthy investors with new handouts at the expense of struggling tenants,\u201d Liz Zelnick, director of the economic security and corporate power program at Accountable US, said in a statement.\u00a0<\/p>\n Mid-America Apartments, Avalon Bay Communities along with the four other companies mentioned in the report were some of the 14 landlords sued by Washington D.C.\u2019s attorney general\u2019s office last year<\/a> for possibly colluding to illegally raise rents for thousands of tenants by \u201ccollectively delegating price-setting authority to RealPage.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n