Beware of Buyouts

Developer buyouts are increasingly a major issue in urban area, greasing the wheels of gentrification. In cities that still have some form of rent control or stabilization, buyouts are a tool used to convert housing still accessible to your average person into “market-rate” units unaffordable to the vast majority of us. They also create a wedge between individual tenants and tenant organizations fighting for all tenants. While its important to recognize that for individuals who take buyouts it might be their only option, as a social process it is massively destructive.

A giant white-purplish hand is reaching for the viewer against a background of brick-red apartment buildings. Below, the text states: “BEWARE OF BUYOUTS! PROTECT RENT STABILIZATION AND CONTROL.”