The Dec. 15 article “Courtyard Village tenants may get extension,” on the plight of the families who live in Courtyard Village Apartments, was clear, informative and alarming.
The mortgage crisis has caused residential rental markets throughout the U.S. to tighten to the point that the poor, disadvantaged, unemployed and underemployed are being squeezed out. There is very little available for them. Reporter Scott Hewitt did a good job with this aspect and we need to look at it.
At the same time, private equity firms saw residential rentals as a money maker and jumped into the apartment rental business with millions of dollars. They buy these complexes, immediately raise rents if they can, force low-paying or subsidized renters out by failing to make repairs or, as in this case, just evict. They stay just within the law and they make tons of money.
Joyce Batten
Camas
