LOS ANGELES — When Gabriela Cruz first moved in to her two-bedroom apartment in South Los Angeles five years ago, she was relieved. Finally, she had a place to call home for herself, her two young children, and her elderly parents.
But within a year, she says their living conditions went from bad to worse. She started noticing black mold in her bathroom, lining her tub and floorboards. Also, cockroaches were behind her refrigerator, underneath her stove and all throughout the cracks and crevices of her apartment.
They’re problems that Cruz says are causing health concerns for her and her family.
“I have a son. He’s 10 years old. He has asthma. The doctor told me mold is bad for him, cockroaches are bad for him,” Cruz says.
The saliva and shedding body parts of cockroaches can trigger asthma symptoms, allergies and a cough because they act as dust mites, according to the American College of Allergy Asthma and Immunology. These are health issues that Cruz says her family has been dealing with for years.
“It’s been pretty hard with me because I have to take him to the hospital, do all the breathing stuff,” Cruz says.
Cruz lives in a building owned by a corporate landlord. She says calls to her property manager to fix these issues have largely gone unanswered.
Spectrum News attempted to reach them as well for a statement, but never heard back. All of this, Cruz says, is also impacting her mental health.
“I suffer from depression because I feel like I can do nothing about it,” Cruz says.
According to a new study from Human Impact Partners, a think-tank based in Oakland, Cruz is not alone.
New research shows that corporate landlords, which are landlords who use LLC structures, real estate investment trusts, and real estate corporations to conduct business, are using strategies that harm the health of their tenants.
“We know the tenant landlord relationship has always had a power imbalance, but corporate landlords take it to a whole other level,” says Will Dominie with Human Impact Partners.
Their report found that corporate landlords harm health by neglecting upkeep, filing evictions, hiking up rents and charging ancillary fees, evading taxes, dodging accountability, and influencing policy.
Sukh Boparai, who led the study, says much of the contextual research had already been done but the angle their work explored was how these strategies impact tenants’ health.
“Generally, there’s a direct effect when landlords don’t address issues with the home,” she says. This includes examples like Cruz’s living conditions, where mold and insects may be exacerbating asthma conditions.
“But the mental and the long-term physical health effects are substantial,” she says. “Threats of eviction, rising rent costs — when people are paying a higher cost of rent, they have to neglect other basic needs. So, they’re not able to pay for their medications or prescriptions, their own or their kids. They have to cut back on food, sometimes social things that otherwise brings them joy,” said Boparai.
Boparai added that in the course of their research, they were also surprised to find just how much housing stock corporate landlords own.
“They’re increasing their dominance; they are increasing their reach, especially around low-income communities and communities of color,” said Boparai.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Rental Housing Finance Survey, about 45% of rental housing units are under corporate control.
Researchers at Human Impact Partners are now calling on local and state officials to change policies around corporate land ownership — primarily asking for an increase in transparency and accountability with the LLC’s, and also calling for strengthening tenants’ rights.
Cruz says she’s hoping her property manager and landlords are held more accountable, not just for herself, but for the sake of her children.
“They should do a better job because they’re charging so much rent and I think it’s fair for me and my kids to live in a good place. “
A plea from a mother who’s concerned about the impact her home may have on her family’s health.