June 24, 2024
Press Release Climate and EnvironmentDepartment of TransportationEducationEthics in GovernmentExecutive BranchFEMAFinancial RegulationHousingImmigrationLaborProject 2025Revolving Door
RELEASE: New Memos Detail The Trump Administration’s Troubling Stewardship of the Federal Executive Branch
The memos, which cover a broad range of themes, including disaster and emergency management, labor, housing, transportation, financial regulation and more, highlight the myriad ways the former president and his cast of conflicted appointees prioritized corporate interests while jeopardizing the health, safety and wellbeing of the American people.
June 04, 2024
RELEASE: Justice’s Raid of Cortland Management Hopefully Foretells an Energized Crackdown on Price-Fixing
The DOJ’s raid on Cortland is an encouraging sign that the Biden administration is taking the threat of price-fixing in the rental market seriously. While President Biden’s housing platform is focused on the ever-important housing supply issue, increasing supply alone will not decrease rents when large swaths of the market are colluding instead of competing. Biden must call out corporations like RealPage and Cortland and their senior executives by name for their apparent rent-gouging and leaving American families in desperate straits.
May 24, 2024
Real Estate Industry Attacks LIHTC Rent Cap Win
On April 1, the Biden administration announced that it would move to cap rent hikes in Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) properties to 10%. The new regulations from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) are a historic step that will protect millions of tenants in LIHTC properties across the country from egregious rent hikes. Unsurprisingly, the real estate industry is none too pleased about this major new pro-tenant policy.
May 17, 2024
USA Today Helps Corporate Landlords Deflect Blame For Housing Crisis
Don’t fall for Big Real Estate’s self-serving claims about “renter fraud”.
April 22, 2024
Amicus Spotlight: City of Grants Pass, Oregon v. Johnson
An unholy coalition of right-wingers and California Democrats wants the Supreme Court to eviscerate the rights of homeless people.
April 16, 2024
Blog Post Anti-MonopolyCongressional OversightConsumer ProtectionDepartment of JusticeFTCHousingRevolving Door
Meet RealPage’s Revolving-Door Lobbyists
The scandal-plagued software company has hired a trio of Capitol Hill insiders to fend off regulatory scrutiny from Congress.
March 21, 2024
RealPage Enlists Ex-FTC Revolvers From BigLaw Firm Gibson Dunn To Fight Tenant Lawsuits
Facing an existential legal threat, the scandal-plagued software company has hired price-fixing monopolists’ favorite lawyers.
March 08, 2024
HackwatchNewsletter 2024 ElectionAnti-MonopolyCatherine RampellConsumer ProtectionDepartment of JusticeDepartment of TransportationFTCHousing
A Decade-Long Week And SOTU Thoughts
This week’s Hack Watch recaps some economic stories you may have missed, plus our initial reaction to Biden’s big speech.
March 01, 2024
Departing RealPage Exec’s Flimsy Rant Against Rent Control
As he leaves the scandal-plagued firm, Jay Parsons offers one last defense of rent-gougers.
February 21, 2024 | The New Republic
A Return to Trump’s Housing Policies Would Be a Disaster
The former president made his name as an unscrupulous real estate magnate. So it’s no surprise that he pushed for ideas designed to take from the poor and give to the rich.
February 15, 2024
Julian Scoffield Vishal Shankar
Newsletter Corporate CrackdownDepartment of JusticeExecutive BranchHousing
An RDP Love Letter To Picking Fights and Good Punditry
Cracking down on corporate abuses is what government should be for.
January 10, 2024
Blog Post Climate and EnvironmentCongressional OversightCorporate CrackdownGovernment CapacityHousingIRS
Glossary of Useful Federal Budget Terms
Learning about the federal government’s budget process can be daunting. Here are a few key terms to help better understand of the federal budget process as of late.
December 15, 2023
Bidenomics Needs A Corporate Crackdown On Rent-Gougers
The RealPage scandal gives Biden a real opportunity to rally working-class support for his reelection campaign.
November 29, 2023
Biden Administration Remains Split Over Fighting Concentrated Corporate Power
This week’s newsletter looks at executive branch attempts to counteract concentrated corporate power across our focus areas – from consumer protection in Big Tech, to housing, to climate regulation. While the FTC and DOJ antitrust division continue to be present in important fights to support consumers and tenants, proactive climate policy continues to be absent, as Biden’s rhetoric regarding challenging climate change rings hollow in areas where the president has considerable discretion.