
Housing Crisis: Why Your Landlord Has Lobbyists — And You Only Have a Lease
They told you to go to school, get a job, save up, and buy a home.
They said if you worked hard and played by the rules, you’d get a piece of the American Dream.
But now?
You can’t afford a mortgage.
You can barely make rent.
And the same people who priced you out are telling you it’s your fault.
They say you spent too much on avocado toast.
They say interest rates are to blame.
They say it’s just “supply and demand.”
No.
The housing crisis isn’t an accident. It’s a business model.
Your landlord has lobbyists.
You have a lease.
They Manufactured the Shortage
Let’s start with the root of the scam: artificial scarcity.
For decades, local governments — pressured by developers, NIMBYs, and wealthy homeowners — have used zoning laws, density caps, and permit bottlenecks to block new housing.
Not luxury condos, of course. Those go up overnight.
But duplexes? Starter homes? Affordable units near jobs or transit?
Denied.
Too dense.
Doesn’t “fit the character of the neighborhood.”
Might “impact traffic.”
Translation: We already got ours — you’re not welcome.
This deliberate underbuilding created the perfect storm:
Too many people. Not enough homes. Rents soar. Mortgages balloon. And the working class gets squeezed out.
Wall Street Bought the Neighborhood
While you were told to save for a down payment, BlackRock, Invitation Homes, and Vanguard were buying entire neighborhoods in cash.
They didn’t care about schools, crime rates, or commute times.
They cared about ROI.
They bought foreclosures during the 2008 crash, turned them into rentals, and never looked back.
Now they’re gobbling up single-family homes before families can even make an offer.
They waive inspections. Offer 30% over asking. Pay in full.
You can’t compete — and you were never supposed to.
Then they turn around and jack up the rent, charge “convenience fees,” and outsource maintenance to the cheapest contractor they can find.
You don’t own your home.
You rent it from a hedge fund.
Rent Is the New Tax
If you think owning is hard, try renting.
Landlords — corporate or not — have a free hand to raise rents, charge junk fees, and evict with impunity.
In many states, you have zero legal protection.
Even where “tenant rights” exist, they’re paper-thin and toothless.
And while your wages stagnate or your hours get cut, rent goes up every year without fail.
Because your landlord knows something you don’t:
You have no other options.
You can’t afford the deposit to move.
There’s a 9-month waitlist for anything cheaper.
And even if you could move, it’d still be owned by the same holding company under a different LLC.
Starter Homes Are Dead — By Design
There was a time when a young family could buy a modest house, build equity, and pass something down.
Not anymore.
Builders don’t make starter homes because they’re not profitable enough.
They’re incentivized to build McMansions, luxury apartments, or overpriced “townhomes” with HOA fees and zero yard space.
Meanwhile, materials cost more. Labor is short. Permits are slow. Insurance is a nightmare.
So instead of fixing the system, they blame Millennials and Gen Z for not “growing up.”
But the truth is, they killed the very thing they now shame you for not having.
You didn’t fail to launch.
They sold the launch pad to Blackstone and fenced it off.
Politicians Don’t Want to Solve This
You think D.C. wants affordable housing?
Then explain this:
- Both parties take money from the real estate lobby.
- Congress owns more rental property than ever before.
- HUD gets gutted while subsidies for developers expand.
- No rent caps. No eviction protections. No real reform.
You get meaningless slogans like “Yes In My Backyard” or “Build, Baby, Build” — while the people in charge continue to protect the zoning laws and tax codes that keep housing scarce and speculative.
It’s not just neglect.
It’s complicity.
Zoning: The Quiet Weapon of Class Warfare
Zoning sounds boring. It’s not.
It’s how rich neighborhoods stay rich and poor ones get bulldozed.
Want to build a duplex in a suburb?
Illegal.
Want to convert a garage into a rental?
Heavily restricted.
Want to open a halfway house or shelter?
Forget it.
Zoning is how they block density, prevent diversity, and protect property values — all while pretending it’s about “safety” or “aesthetic integrity.”
They’re not against growth.
They just don’t want you living next to them.
The American Dream Was Liquidated
Homeownership used to be the backbone of the middle class.
Now it’s a pipe dream — or worse, a speculative instrument for people who’ve never set foot in the community they profit from.
You want to buy?
You’re told to compete with institutional investors.
You want to rent?
You’re told to accept “market rate” — even if that means 50% of your paycheck.
You want to build?
You’re told to sit through ten zoning meetings and hire a lobbyist.
They privatized your future.
They financialized your neighborhood.
They turned shelter into stock options.
Your Lease Is a Leash
Let’s talk about the power dynamic.
- They raise the rent. You pay it or leave.
- They skip repairs. You wait or sue.
- They sell the building. You’re out.
- They “redevelop.” You’re displaced.
Landlords don’t just collect rent.
They hold your stability, your mental health, your children’s education, your credit score, and sometimes even your mailing address in their hands.
They have legal teams. Lobbyists. Trade associations. Tax write-offs.
You have a lease — and maybe a month’s savings if you’re lucky.
This Isn’t a Market — It’s a Monopoly
Free market? Spare me.
What we have is coordinated scarcity:
- National property firms own entire metro areas.
- Zillow and Redfin manipulate listings and market psychology.
- Institutional landlords form cartels to keep rents high.
- State laws ban rent control and override local ordinances.
- Short-term rentals like Airbnb remove entire neighborhoods from the housing supply.
This isn’t “supply and demand.”
It’s supply sabotage and demand exploitation.
And until we name it for what it is — housing theft at scale — nothing will change.
What Real Housing Reform Looks Like
Let’s skip the slogans and get real:
- Ban corporate ownership of single-family homes. Period.
- Heavily tax empty units and land banking.
- Overhaul zoning to allow multi-family housing by default.
- Criminalize slumlord behavior — with actual enforcement.
- Fund public housing again — not just “vouchers” for bad landlords.
- Implement national rent stabilization tied to local wages.
- Use eminent domain on abandoned or hedge fund-owned blight.
- Protect tenants like they’re actual citizens, not squatters with paperwork.
This isn’t radical. It’s survival.
We already have the resources, the labor, the space, and the tools.
We just don’t have the political will — because too many people in power are cashing the rent checks.
Your Neighborhood Shouldn’t Be a Profit Center
Shelter is not a privilege.
It is a right — and a responsibility of any functioning society.
You shouldn’t have to compete with BlackRock to live near your job.
You shouldn’t have to give up 60% of your paycheck just to not be homeless.
You shouldn’t need a co-signer, a side hustle, and a trust fund just to qualify for a 700 sq ft apartment in a crumbling building.
And if your landlord has lobbyists —
then it’s time we had something stronger than a lease.
Because the American Dream didn’t die.
It was evicted.