Blackstone-Tricon merger set to impact thousands in NC
March 15, 2024
In January, private equity giant Blackstone announced plans to acquire real estate firm Tricon Residential. Blackstone, which is already the largest landlord in the nation and the world, would add 38,000 single family rental properties in the U.S. by acquiring Tricon. Both firms have shoddy track records as landlords—properties in Blackstone’s portfolio have seen evictions of tenants, extreme rent increases, and unhygienic conditions in units. Separate investigations by Reuters and the Financial Times revealed that tenants in Blackstone-owned homes endured vermin, toxic mold, unclear billing practices, and months-long waits for maintenance.
Tricon in particular has attracted its fair share of negative attention for its treatment of tenants in North Carolina, where it currently owns almost 5,300 homes in North Carolina. The Charlotte Observernoted that of large corporate landlords, Tricon’s “business practices have attracted the most attention from Charlotte housing officials.” The Charlotte Housing Authority said that Tricon “has made the city’s shortage of affordable housing worse by raising rents sharply.” Tricon raised rents in Charlotte an average of 28% over 5 years, while the average rent for single family homes in the area rose just 19% during this same period.
In light of both Blackstone and Tricon’s poor track records as landlords, PESP sent a letter to North Carolina State Treasurer Dale Folwell asking him to act to block the merger unless Blackstone agrees to ensure basic protections for tenants. The letter to Treasurer Folwell included a quote from Folwell himself on the matter of tenant mistreatment: “If there’s a person who is spending their money on shelter where the toilet won’t flush, the water is not clean, or there’s an insect problem, it doesn’t matter how many millions or how many thousands of apartments this may be. If that’s happening to one person, that’s one too many.”
For further reading on Blackstone’s performance as a landlord, check out the resources below:
