A coalition of San Diego renters alleges the private equity firm Blackstone has raised rents and neglected tenants in the three years since it acquired thousands of local rental units.
On Tuesday, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors will take up a proposal that advocates hope will fight back against what they allege are illegal practices from firms such as Blackstone.
In Pacific Beach Monday, the board's vice chair, Terra Lawson-Remer, alongside about three-dozen activists rallied in front of the Blackstone-owned Bay Apartments.
Lawson-Remer drafted the proposal, which she said will tackle what she considers one major source of high San Diego rents. She said local rents have surged 200% since Blackstone acquired roughly 5,600 local rental units.
"We know that the Blackstones of the world, the Wall Street investors of the world ... are deliberately fixing prices (and) colluding to drive up rents," Lawson-Remer told the crowd through a bullhorn. "It's illegal, and it has to stop."
If adopted, the county will begin studying the impact of commercial ownership of residential properties has on local rent prices. It could also look to existing and potential ordinances to address the issue.
Lawson-Remer also wants the county to consider bringing a lawsuit against Blackstone.
"We're looking at basically bringing litigation against Blackstone — bringing legal action for their illegal behavior," she said.
In a statement to KPBS, Blackstone denies doing anything unlawful.
"These allegations rely on cherry-picked data and are not based on any facts whatsoever," a company spokesperson said in an email.
It's not just rent spikes advocates blame on Blackstone. Renters also said the service has harassed tenants and failed to respond to maintenance requests.
Celeste Johnson, of El Cajon, spoke to the crowd about what she's endured since Blackstone bought her apartment complex in 2021. She told KPBS she noticed a difference when ownership changed.
"I noticed that everything I reported couldn't get done at all," Johnson said. "It was now my fault, my responsibility. We went through maybe three or four managers before I could even at least get one simple thing fixed."
Blackstone said since taking over their San Diego properties it has made about $100 million in improvements and completed more than 44,000 repairs.
"The reality is that average rents at these San Diego communities are 20% below the San Diego market average," the company said. "Resident review scores have increased (about) 40% under our ownership and resident retention rates are significantly higher than the national average."
The board will take up the proposal at Tuesday's 9 a.m. meeting.
