Vulture capitalists make bad landlords
Over time, words with beautiful
meanings occasionally get degraded into ugliness. “Gentle,” for example.
Democrat photo by Gray Baker
Originally meaning good natured and
kindly, it was twisted into “gentry” in the Middle Ages by very un-gentle land
barons seeking a patina of refinement. Then it became a pretentious verb — to
“gentrify” — meaning to make something common appear upscale.
And now the word has devolved to
“gentrification,” describing the greed of developers and speculators who oust
middle-and-low-income families from their communities to create trendy enclaves
for the rich.
The latest move by these profiteers
is their meanest yet, targeting families with the most tenuous hold on
affordable shelter: People living in mobile home parks. Some 20 million
Americans — especially vulnerable senior citizens, veterans, the disabled, and
immigrant workers — make their homes in these inexpensive parks.
Well, “inexpensive” until the
vultures sweep in, including multi-billion-dollar Wall Street powerhouses like
Blackstone Group, Apollo Global Management, and Carlyle Group that are buying
up hundreds of trailer parks across the country.
These are easy for unprincipled speculators to grab — while tenants might own their mobile home, they rent the lots, and the first sign that a huckster has taken over a neighborhood park is an unwarranted spike in everyone’s rent.
Residents are captive tenants, for
these homes are not really mobile — and even if one can be moved, the cost can
top $10,000. New Yorker magazine notes that
today’s typical mobile-home park has been called “a Waffle House where customers are chained to their booths.”
Corporate predators can collect
ever-rising rents and fees while cutting amenities, steadily driving out
lower-income families. Then the business model can switch to gentrification,
remaking the parks to attract more upscale owners.
And where do former tenants go?
Away. Out of sight, out of mind.
OtherWords columnist Jim Hightower is a radio commentator, writer, and public speaker. This op-ed was distributed by OtherWords.org.
