SANTA CLARITA: A coalition of tenants’ rights advocates that include Housing Is A Human Right (HHR), the housing advocacy division of AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) have staged several socially-distant protests calling out corporate landlord and other bad actors for fueling California’s ongoing housing affordability and homeless crises.

The housing rights advocates will stage another protest to take on billionaire landlord Mike Schall, CEO of Essex Property Trust, a real estate investment trust (REIT) based in San Mateo.

Essex Property Trust is the tenth-largest apartment owner in the U.S. — with more than 60,000 units and a worth of $25 billion. The vast majority of those apartments are located in the Bay Area and Southern California.

According to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), crushing rent increases has caused homelessness to increase by almost 13 percent (66,433 individuals between 2019 and 2020) in Los Angeles County alone. The ongoing crisis is fueled by Big Real Estate Lobby and billionaire landlords like Schall and Essex Property Trust, who prioritize profits over people by implementing astronomical rent increases.

“Mike Schall and Essex Property Trust have fought tooth and nail against efforts to protect Californian renters who struggle to make ends meet every month,” said René Christian Moya, Housing Is A Human Right and Rental Affordability Act Campaign Director. “Essex Property Trust were among the top contributors to oppose rent control in 2018. This year, they are once again shelling out millions to target Proposition 21, a November ballot measure that would allow for the expansion of rent control and limit rent increases for millions of renters across California.”

AIDS Healthcare Foundation, the parent non-profit of Housing Is A Human Right and Healthy Housing Foundation, has long addressed public health emergencies — from the AIDS epidemic to the Ebola crisis to California’s homeless crisis. AHF will do everything it can to help the vulnerable during this difficult time.