{"id":1618307,"date":"2022-08-21T20:27:24","date_gmt":"2022-08-22T00:27:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1618307"},"modified":"2022-08-21T20:27:51","modified_gmt":"2022-08-22T00:27:51","slug":"raphael-warnock-raised-the-alarm-on-big-corporations-buying-up-homes-but-took-thousands-from-wall-street-execs-at-a-firm-doing-just-that","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/raphael-warnock-raised-the-alarm-on-big-corporations-buying-up-homes-but-took-thousands-from-wall-street-execs-at-a-firm-doing-just-that\/","title":{"rendered":"Raphael Warnock Raised The Alarm On Big Corporations Buying Up Homes, But Took Thousands From Wall Street Execs At A Firm Doing Just That"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">48<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fraphael-warnock-raised-the-alarm-on-big-corporations-buying-up-homes-but-took-thousands-from-wall-street-execs-at-a-firm-doing-just-that%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1618307&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><ul>\n<li><strong>Sen. Raphael Warnock raised concerns in July over large corporations buying up homes in his state but has raked in tens of thousands from Wall Street executives at a firm doing just that.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The Georgia Democrat has taken almost $38,000 since 2020 from top employees at Blackstone, the largest private equity firm worldwide, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) records.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>\u201cWhen corporate landlords convert those properties to rental stock, new renters for such renovated single-family apartments are likely to be non-African Americans,\u201d Brian An, a professor at Georgia Tech\u2019s School of City and Regional Planning, told the Daily Caller News Foundation.<br \/><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Democratic Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock recently sounded the alarm on big corporations buying up swathes of homes in his state. However, he\u2019s taken campaign donations from Wall Street executives at a private equity firm engaged in that very practice.<\/p>\n<p>Warnock\u2019s campaign has raked in almost $38,000 since 2020 from executives at Blackstone, a Wall Street firm with a roughly $130 billion market cap <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/blackstone-bets-6-billion-on-buying-and-renting-homes-11624359600\">buying<\/a> up homes in Georgia and across the U.S., <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fec.gov\/data\/receipts\/individual-contributions\/?committee_id=C00736876&amp;contributor_employer=blackstone\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">according<\/a> to Federal Election Commission (FEC) records. At the same time, Warnock\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Id0dDo5unxQ\">said<\/a> in a July hearing Georgia is \u201cin the middle of a housing crisis\u201d and raised concerns \u201cover large institutional investors,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.minneapolisfed.org\/article\/2021\/understanding-the-rise-of-investor-owned-homes\">which<\/a> some experts <a href=\"https:\/\/papers.ssrn.com\/sol3\/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4156851\">say<\/a>\u00a0are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.atlantafed.org\/-\/media\/documents\/community-development\/publications\/discussion-papers\/2016\/04-corporate-landlords-institutional-investors-and-displacement-2016-12-21.pdf\">driving<\/a> up rent <a href=\"https:\/\/qz.com\/2118625\/corporate-landlords-are-benefiting-from-inflation\/\">prices<\/a> and displacing minority communities.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGeorgians don\u2019t have the luxury of waiting several years for home prices and rents to fall,\u201d the senator said in the July Senate Banking Committee hearing, which addressed corporate investors buying up homes in Georgia and rising property costs. <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2022\/08\/13\/raphael-warnock-reject-corporate-pac-money\/\"><strong>(Raphael Warnock Swore Off Corporate PAC Money \u2014 But Took Thousands From PACs Funded By Big Corporations)<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think we need research to effectively understand how private equity is impacting markets in Atlanta and Georgia and across the country, and I look forward to introducing legislation very soon to address that very issue,\u201d Warnock added during the July hearing.<\/p>\n<p>Brian An, a professor at Georgia Tech\u2019s School of City and Regional Planning, told the Daily Caller News Foundation neighborhoods targeted by corporate investors tend to be where the majority of residents and home sellers are black.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen this happens, African American (would-be) individual homebuyers fare relatively worse than other race groups in terms of bidding\/purchasing for those homes considered by corporate investors,\u201d An, who <a href=\"https:\/\/papers.ssrn.com\/sol3\/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4156851\">authored<\/a> a July study on declining black homeownership in areas with corporate investors, wrote in an email to the DCNF.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen corporate landlords convert those properties to rental stock, new renters for such renovated single-family apartments are likely to be non-African Americans,\u201d An said.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"s1\">David Levine, Blackstone\u2019s co-head of U.S. real estate acquisitions who has been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.blackstone.com\/people\/david-levine\/\"><span class=\"s2\">involved<\/span><\/a> in $100 billion worth of real estate investments since joining the company in 2010, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fec.gov\/data\/receipts\/individual-contributions\/?committee_id=C00736876&amp;contributor_name=levine&amp;contributor_employer=blackstone\"><span class=\"s2\">gave<\/span><\/a> Warnock\u2019s campaign $2,900 in February. Michael Nash, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.blackstone.com\/people\/michael-nash\/\"><span class=\"s2\">who<\/span><\/a> is the co-founder and chairman of Blackstone\u2019s real estate debt strategies group, also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fec.gov\/data\/receipts\/individual-contributions\/?committee_id=C00736876&amp;contributor_name=nash&amp;contributor_employer=blackstone\"><span class=\"s2\">gave<\/span><\/a> the senator\u2019s campaign $2,900 in February.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Blackstone has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbs46.com\/2022\/06\/03\/its-an-everyday-occurrence-now-corporate-investors-flooding-atlantas-housing-market\/\">spent<\/a> billions on Atlanta properties since at least 2013, <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.ph\/x9J4Z\">according<\/a> to multiple reports. The New York-based company notably spent $100 million in 2013 on 1,400 Atlanta properties, which at the time was the <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.ph\/d6khv\">largest<\/a> bulk purchase in the homes-for-lease industry, Bloomberg reported.<\/p>\n<p>Around 16% of the properties it purchased in 2013 were Section 8 housing, in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.benefits.gov\/news\/article\/388\">which<\/a> low-income tenants obtain federal aid, the outlet reported.<\/p>\n<p>The private equity giant <a href=\"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/articles\/blackstone-gets-back-into-the-single-family-rental-game\/\">invested<\/a> $300 million in Tricon Residential in 2020 and founded a separate company in 2012 called Invitation Homes, which it <a href=\"https:\/\/www.housingwire.com\/articles\/blackstone-cashes-out-on-invitation-homes\/\">sold<\/a> in 2019. Both companies reportedly own <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbs46.com\/2022\/06\/03\/its-an-everyday-occurrence-now-corporate-investors-flooding-atlantas-housing-market\/\">thousands<\/a> of single-family homes in metro-Atlanta.<\/p>\n<p>The company also invested hundreds of millions into north and south Atlanta suburban apartments in 2021, <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.ph\/x9J4Z\">the<\/a> Atlanta Business Chronicle reported, including $50 million for apartments in Clayton County. Black residents comprise over 73% of residents in the county, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.census.gov\/quickfacts\/claytoncountygeorgia\">according<\/a> to the Census Bureau, and the county has a roughly 17% poverty rate.<\/p>\n<p>Blackstone executives <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/02\/16\/business\/blackstone-real-estate-acquisition.html\">claimed<\/a> in February 2022 its rental investments were intended to offset inflation, the New York Times reported.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_7502794\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-7502794\" class=\"wp-image-7502794 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/GettyImages-1232422960-scaled-1.jpeg\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/GettyImages-1232422960-scaled-1.jpeg 2560w, https:\/\/cdn01.dailycaller.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/GettyImages-1232422960-180x120.jpeg 180w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/GettyImages-1232422960-620x413-1.jpeg 620w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/GettyImages-1232422960-768x512-1.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/GettyImages-1232422960-1536x1024-1.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/GettyImages-1232422960-2048x1365-1.jpeg 2048w\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-7502794\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">WASHINGTON, DC \u2013 APRIL 20: Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) (L) speaks during a news conference following the weekly Democrat policy luncheon on Capitol Hill on April 20, 2021 in Washington, DC. The Democratic Senators spoke about the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act. (Photo by Sarah Silbiger\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>A spokesman for Blackstone told the DCNF it has a portfolio company called Home Partners of America that owns roughly 0.2% of the \u201ctotal home stock\u201d in Georgia. The portfolio company has a $1 billion program \u201cto help low-to-moderate-income families and historically under-represented communities\u201d by letting residents buy their homes \u201cat a price likely below market value, as well as rents 10% below market,\u201d the spokesman said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn the typical Washington Way, Raphael Warnock is lining his pocket with campaign cash while Georgians get kicked to the curb and struggle to pay for gas groceries as a result of his disastrous voting record,\u201d Stephen Lawson, a Republican strategist in Georgia, told the DCNF. \u201cWarnock is playing evictor in chief \u2014 but come November, the voters will have the final say, and it\u2019ll be Warnock who gets left out in the cold.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But Fred Hicks, a pro-Warnock political consultant in Georgia,\u00a0pushed back on the idea that it is hypocritical for Warnock\u2019s campaign to take money from Blackstone while criticizing private equity firms.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s less than 1% of what he\u2019s raised,\u201d Hicks told the DCNF. \u201cThis is one of the most important races in the country and I\u2019d expect that several small donors would have donated to both candidates. Republicans are going to do what they have to do to score points.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Over 42% of for-sale homes in the Atlanta metro were sold to corporate investors during <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.ph\/Sajhe\">the<\/a> third quarter of 2021, according to MarketWatch. Democratic Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.ph\/sx5JQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">told Bloomberg<\/a> in June there should be a limit on investors buying homes.<\/p>\n<p>The median Georgia home price skyrocketed 14% between April 2021 and April 2022, the outlet <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.ph\/sx5JQ\">reported<\/a>, and rent hikes have led to higher eviction rates <a href=\"https:\/\/www.walb.com\/2022\/05\/31\/rent-increases-causing-eviction-rates-skyrocket-across-south-ga\/\">across<\/a> Georgia. Investors comprised around 60% of home purchases in 2021 in South Fulton, Atlanta\u2019s 30349 Zip Code, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/business\/interactive\/2022\/housing-market-investors\/\">the<\/a> Washington Post reported, which has an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cityofsouthfultonga.gov\/2983\/Demographics\">over<\/a> 91% black population and a more than 19% poverty rate.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRaphael Warnock will do anything he can to keep his seat in Washington, even if it means abandoning the people he is obligated to represent,\u201d a spokeswoman for the Georgia Republican Party told the DCNF.<\/p>\n<p>Warnock will face off in November against Republican candidate Herschel Walker, a retired NFL player. The senator leads Walker by two points, <a href=\"https:\/\/projects.fivethirtyeight.com\/polls\/senate\/2022\/georgia\/\">according<\/a> to a FiveThirtyEight polling average.<\/p>\n<p>Warnock\u2019s campaign did not respond to the DCNF\u2019s request for comment.<\/p>\n<p>Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact <a href=\"mailto:licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org\">licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sen. Raphael Warnock raised concerns in July over large corporations buying up homes in his state but has raked in tens of thousands from Wall Street executives at a firm<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":381,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1618307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1618307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/381"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1618307"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1618307\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1618307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1618307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1618307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}