Politically Georgia: Inside the American Dream for Rent investigation

Aerial view of Winslow at Eagles Landing neighborhood, where a large number of homes are owned by investors, Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023, in McDonough. Two companies — Invitation Homes and Progress Residential — each own more than 10,000 homes in the metro Atlanta area as of, or near the end of, the 2nd quarter 2022. In fact, there are 11 companies with ties to private equity that own more than 1,000 homes, according to an AJC analysis. (Hyosub Shin / Hyosub.Shin@ajc.com)

Credit: Hyosub.Shin@ajc.com

Credit: Hyosub.Shin@ajc.com

Aerial view of Winslow at Eagles Landing neighborhood, where a large number of homes are owned by investors, Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023, in McDonough. Two companies — Invitation Homes and Progress Residential — each own more than 10,000 homes in the metro Atlanta area as of, or near the end of, the 2nd quarter 2022. In fact, there are 11 companies with ties to private equity that own more than 1,000 homes, according to an AJC analysis. (Hyosub Shin / Hyosub.Shin@ajc.com)

In this special episode of the Politically Georgia podcast, hosts Greg Bluestein and Patricia Murphy explore The Atlanta Journal-Constitution investigation into how investors are driving middle-class homebuyers out of the market.

A team of journalists at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution led by Brian Eason spent seven months digging into an investment trend that allows private equity firms to elbow individual buyers out of the housing market.

Join Eason as he discusses what triggered the single-family home rental industry to grow so quickly, how out-of-state landlords trap renters into bad situations and how this trend disproportionately affects neighborhoods of color.

Read the AJC investigation, American Dream for Rent on AJC.com/AmericanDream.

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