Starwood Capital Affiliates Continue Eviction Filings, Even After Presidential Executive Order on Evictions

Private equity real estate firm Starwood Capital is one of the largest residential landlords in the country, with more than 75,000 apartment units and single-family rental homes around the US.

On August 8, President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order on Fighting the Spread of COVID-19 by Providing Assistance to Renters and Homeowners, meant to halt evictions, noting, “Those who are dislocated from their homes may be unable to shelter in place and may have more difficulty maintaining a routine of social distancing.”

Despite the President’s executive order, affiliates of Starwood Capital have continued to file new cases to evict residents of the firm’s properties, filing two eviction cases at single family rental homes in Decatur, Georgia less than a week later on August 14.[i]

While Starwood Capital appeared to have halted new eviction filings in early April, affiliates of the firm (SFR ATL Owner, RS Phoenix Owner, SPT Dolphin Palmetto Trace) have filed more than a dozen eviction cases since the beginning of July, including in states like Florida, Arizona and Georgia that were hit hard by recent spikes in COVID-19 cases. See below list.

In addition, a number of eviction cases that Starwood Capital filed early in the pandemic remain open. For example, a Starwood Capital affiliate (SCG Atlas Ashley Lake LLC) last week filed a “motion for default judgment for removal of tenant” at its Reserve at Ashley Lake apartments in Boynton Beach, Florida.[ii]

In July, the Washington Post reported that Starwood Capital had filed eviction cases despite the CARES Act eviction moratorium:

“Starwood Capital Group, a large private equity firm, repeatedly pursued the eviction of residents in its apartment buildings after the eviction ban was put in place. On March 30, SCG Atlas Coconut Palm Club, owned by Starwood, filed an eviction complaint against one of its residents in Coconut Creek, Fla., for missing a rent payment, according to court records. Highmark Residential, also owned by Starwood, filed two eviction complaints against residents of Grande Court Apartments in Jacksonville, Fla., on March 30.

In both instances, the buildings had loans backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, covered by the federal eviction moratorium.”

Media coverage:

Washington Post, Jul 6, 2020: “Evictions are likely to skyrocket this summer as jobs remain scarce. Black renters will be hard hit.

Barry Sternlicht, CEO, Chair, and co-founder of Starwood Capital, is also a member of President Donald Trump’s Great American Economic Revival Industry Group, which advises the President on reopening the US economy. Even as the US saw record numbers of COVID-19 cases earlier this summer, Sternlicht maintained that the US must ease restrictions related to COVID-19.[i]

Evictions cases filed by Starwood Capital affiliates during the COVID-19 pandemic

[i] Cases 20D10043, 20D10044, DeKalb County, GA.

[ii] See for example, case 50-2020-CC-003357-XXXX-SB, Palm Beach County, FL, case 2020-007187-CC-23, Miami-Dade County, FL