Tenant Union Federation launches first-of-its-kind nationwide campaign against private equity landlord

The Tenant Union Federation (TUF), a nationwide coalition of tenant unions with locals in five states and dozens more affiliated unions across the country, has launched a groundbreaking multi-state organizing campaign against the corporate landlord Capital Realty Group.^[1] Capital Realty Group, which focuses primarily on affordable (subsidized) housing, self-identifies as a private equity firm.^[2]

“By organizing renters across Capital Realty Group’s affordable housing complexes, the Tenant Union Federation hopes to bring sectoral bargaining to negotiations with large landlords,” writes Bloomberg.^[3]

According to a TUF press release, this is the first example in recent history of tenants engaging in collective bargaining with a shared landlord across state lines.^[4]

As of September 22, tenants from seven Capital Realty-owned properties have formed majority unions representing over 1,000 housing units.^[5] Unionized properties include the 72-unit Park Ridge complex in New Haven, Connecticut; the 122-unit River Pointe Tower in Detroit, Michigan; the 214-unit American Village complex in Louisville, Kentucky; three buildings totaling nearly 500 units in Kansas City, Missouri;^[6] and the 112-unit Rose Park Apartments in Billings, Montana.^[7] Together, hundreds of renters across state lines are uniting to demand better conditions and accountability from their landlord.

Capital Realty Group, which is based in New York state, owns more than 18,000 units^[8] of federally subsidized housing across 28 states.^[9]

In August 2025, the Connecticut Tenants Union and the Detroit Tenants Union announced that tenants had organized at their respective Capital Realty properties and were demanding to negotiate with Capital Realty. Residents at both sites described long-standing issues with poor maintenance and a lack of transparency from management.^[10]

In mid-September, tenants at Rose Park Apartments in Billings joined the campaign, citing what they described as “a nearly uninhabitable environment” due to chronic maintenance failures. “I think it’s a really good example of abuse of power,” one tenant told KTVQ. “These people looked at us as low-income tenants desperate for housing — and they think they can treat us however they want.”^[11]

According to In These Times, in recent years, local news has covered neglected tenants at Capital Realty buildings inChicago, New Orleans, Washington, D.C.,Los Angeles, Cleveland and Atlanta, among others. Last fall, the outletpublished a major investigation into another Capital Realty building in New Haven where more than a dozen tenants developed severe respiratory conditions thanks to untreated mold.^[12]

The campaign’s next challenge is getting Capital Realty’s principals, Moshe Eichler and Sam Horowitz, to the bargaining table. In late September, US Senators Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, along with Representative Rosa DeLauro, once again called on the company’s leadership to negotiate with tenants. The lawmakers sent a letter to Capital Realty on August 14 and have since pledged to send another urging the company to meet with union representatives.^[13]

The Private Equity Stakeholder Project is a proud supporter of the Tenant Federation’s efforts to mitigate the negative impacts of private equity and other corporate landlords on people and communities by building collective tenant power.

^[1] https://inthesetimes.com/article/private-equity-landlords-tenants-union-organizing-tuf-housing

^[2] https://www.linkedin.com/company/capital-realty-group-inc

^[3] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-09-22/capital-realty-group-tenants-seek-to-unionize-across-the-us

^[4] https://inthesetimes.com/article/private-equity-landlords-tenants-union-organizing-tuf-housing

^[5] https://x.com/TenantFed/status/1970190780531957927

^[6] https://inthesetimes.com/article/private-equity-landlords-tenants-union-organizing-tuf-housing

^[7] https://www.facebook.com/RoseParkAparments/

^[8] https://inthesetimes.com/article/private-equity-landlords-tenants-union-organizing-tuf-housing

^[9] https://inthesetimes.com/article/private-equity-landlords-tenants-union-organizing-tuf-housing

^[10] https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2025/08/29/newest-new-haven-tenants-union-joins-with-detroit-counterpart-for-negotiations/

^[11] https://www.ktvq.com/news/local-news/billings-apartment-complex-residents-forming-tenant-union

^[12] https://inthesetimes.com/article/private-equity-landlords-tenants-union-organizing-tuf-housing

^[13] https://www.newhavenindependent.org/2025/09/29/legislators-to-landlord-negotiate-with-your-tenants/