Corporate Landlords Find Themselves in Trump's Crosshairs

Summary

Bloomberg Businessweek Podcast Summary

Episode: Corporate Landlords Find Themselves in Trump’s Crosshairs
Date: January 13, 2026
Hosts: Carol Massar and Tim Stenovec
Guests: Stephen Shur (Co-President, Pretium), Sri Natarajan (Chief Wall Street Correspondent, Bloomberg News)

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Episode Overview

This episode of Bloomberg Businessweek explores sudden political scrutiny on corporate landlords, focusing on President Trump’s pledge to halt institutional investors from buying more single-family homes. With the backdrop of surging home prices and rental costs, the discussion delves into the potential impacts of such a policy, the ongoing housing affordability crisis, and the evolving role of private capital in U.S. housing markets.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Surprise Policy Shift from the Trump Administration

• [02:56] The hosts set the stage with President Trump’s unexpected announcement to restrict institutional homebuying, which caused significant market reaction among major rental home owners.
• Stephen Shur (Pretium) responds:
  • Admits the announcement was a surprise, as "[we] did not expect nor anticipate that that would be kind of an initiative that the President was going to take up specifically as it relates to single family homes" (Stephen Shur, 02:56).
  • Agrees the focus on housing affordability is needed, stating, "the president has put on the table a critically important issue for the country, which is affordability of housing."

2. Affordability Crisis & Private Capital’s Role

• [04:12] Discussion pivots to how private capital could help address the supply-demand gap—estimated at a shortfall of 3–4 million homes, especially acute in rentals.
• Rent-to-Own Models: Shur advocates for more assertive involvement from private capital, envisioning mechanisms like rent being used to build deposits for a down payment and potential for mortgage innovations (e.g., ultra-low rates with government or bank support).
  • "Imagine a scenario in which rent is paid, money's held back to provide against a deposit account for a down payment on that home... Imagine mortgages in the 1 or 2% category..." (Stephen Shur, 04:12).
• Notes that "90% of our renters are not eligible for a mortgage... [and] to own a home relative to rent a home is about 40% more expensive."

3. Collaborative Approach & Precedents

• [06:14] Shur references the need for a collective effort among private capital, homebuilders, banks, and government-sponsored entities (GSEs).
• Points to the Opportunity Zones program (enacted in 2017 and made permanent), which leveraged $100 billion in private capital for community investment, as an example of successful public-private collaboration.
  • "There's a basis by which private capital can be harnessed and put to work. I think this is an extension of that." (Stephen Shur, 06:14)

4. Industry Response to Policy Threats

• [07:46] Shur confirms that behind-the-scenes industry conversations started quickly after Trump’s announcement to find constructive solutions: "Conversations, as you might imagine, have begun among industry participants, among the homebuilders, and those that are, that are representative or stewards of capital..."

5. Investment Shifts if the Ban Proceeds

• [08:41] Shur clarifies that existing portfolios and other real estate sectors would not be directly affected—only future institutional buying.
  • Points out that Pretium is diversified: "We have a mortgage business, we have a multifamily business..." and that institutional capital could find other avenues.
  • He remains skeptical about an outright ban, seeing more potential for a constructive, comprehensive housing bill.

6. Countering Criticisms of Institutional Homebuying

• [10:08] Host mentions critics like Senator Elizabeth Warren and Bill Pulte, who advocate for limits on corporate ownership of homes.
• Shur’s response:
  • Asserts that institutional investment de-risks homebuilding by guaranteeing rentals for a portion, enabling the rest of new homes to be sold to individuals.
  • Argues that the narrative of institutional buyers crowding individuals out is outdated: "The notion that we are now, perhaps, as in the past, somehow boxing out individuals from owning a home, I just think is... no longer right. It’s no longer a contemporary observation."

7. Potential Consequences of a Total Ban

• [11:58] Host asks Shur to contemplate a worst-case scenario—a full ban on institutional buying.
  • Shur warns this would "only serve to worsen the problem, not make it better... if private capital is pulled away, this would have negative, not positive effect on the ultimate solution to create an affordable stock of housing" (Stephen Shur, 11:58).
  • Emphasizes the size and stability of the rental sector ("One third of households are rentals and that hasn’t changed for a long time"), and the crucial role of private capital in sustaining supply.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Trump’s Announcement:

  • “We did not expect nor anticipate that that would be kind of an initiative that the President was going to take up specifically as it relates to single family homes.”
    ↳ Stephen Shur, 02:56

• On Private Solutions:

  • “Imagine mortgages in the 1 or 2% category where both banks and the GSEs could play a role...”
    ↳ Stephen Shur, 04:12

• On Criticism of Institutional Investors:

  • “The notion that we are now, perhaps, as in the past, somehow boxing out individuals from owning a home, I just think is... no longer right.”
    ↳ Stephen Shur, 10:08

• On Impact of a Ban:

  • “If private capital is pulled away, this would have negative, not positive effect on the ultimate solution to create an affordable stock of housing...”
    ↳ Stephen Shur, 11:58

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Important Segment Timestamps

• 02:56: The Trump “ban” announcement and initial reaction from Pretium
• 04:12: Discussion on rent-to-own models and private capital’s potential for affordability
• 06:14: The need for multi-stakeholder cooperation and referencing Opportunity Zones
• 07:46: Behind-the-scenes industry conversations in response to the policy threat
• 08:41: Diversification of investment and doubts about a full ban
• 10:08: Responding to high-profile critics and shifting the narrative
• 11:58: Outlining the worst-case scenario for the housing market

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Conclusion

This episode provides an insider’s look at the intersection of politics, business, and the ongoing U.S. housing affordability crisis. While surprised by Trump’s stance on banning institutional buyers, Stephen Shur and Bloomberg’s team highlight the complexities behind real estate investment, the evolving dynamics of the rental market, and possibilities for public-private partnership as a way forward. Shur’s defense of private capital hinges on its role in stabilizing supply, supporting affordable housing innovation, and enabling large development projects—arguing that excluding such capital would hurt, rather than help, American renters and buyers.

Transcript

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[Marsh Representative]

Bloomberg Audio Studios Podcasts Radio news.

[Stephen Shur]

You're listening to Bloomberg businessweek with Carol Massar and Tim Stanweck on Bloomberg Radio.

[Interviewer]

Health care certainly in focus as the J.P. morgan Health Care Conference is underway in San Francisco. Also, what we're watching closely what's happening in the housing industry is after President Trump last week brought the issue of corporate home buying front and center when he pledged in a social media post to stop institutional investors from from buying more homes. Some major owners of single family rental homes were blindsided by the news. This according to people with knowledge of the matter. And we saw shares of institutional buyers dive on that. One of those major owners of single family homes joins us now. Steven Shur is co president of Pretium. The firm has more than $60 billion in assets under management, including around $32 billion of real estate. It owns and manages more than 82,000 homes in more than 30 markets. Also joining us Sri Natarajan, Bloomberg News Chief Wall Street Correspondent. They both join us here in the Bloomberg businessweek studio. Welcome, guys. Thanks for joining us. That's where I want to start. Stephen, the edict from President Trump, did it blindside you? Did it come as a surprise?

[Stephen Shur]

Yeah, we did not expect nor anticipate that that would be kind of an initiative that the President was going to take up specifically as it relates to single family homes. Having said that, the president is putting and has put on the table a critically important issue for the country, which is affordability of housing. And I think in as much as we were surprised by his social media post, we stand quite ready to be a force for a solution where private capital can play a very active role in the housing issue. Affordability in and of itself is very much a supply demand equation. The country is short anywhere from 3 to 4 million homes. It's more acute on the rental side than on the ownership side. So surprised in the news? Not surprised. In fact, welcoming of the issue being put on the table and quite ready to be a part of that solution.

[Interviewer]

Right. Affordability not coming to anyone as a surprise who's been in the housing industry for the last, what, four or five years at this point? I think everybody's familiar with the idea of supply and demand being the issue, but I guess I'm curious about like, what specifically you can do and what private capital can do to be part of the solution. Sure.

[Stephen Shur]

Well, for one, there have been a lot of fits and starts around rent to own propositions. That is where somebody rents a home and migrates toward a place where they can own it. We play a role right now in that people that rent homes with us and others in the industry improve their credit, their credit standing, and it is a pathway to get there. Now private capital can play a more assertive or more aggressive role in that process. Imagine a scenario in which rent is paid, money's held back to provide against a deposit account for a down payment on that home. That person may have access to that to bring the down payment down. Imagine mortgages in the 1 or 2% category where both banks and the GSEs could play a role. Imagine where we were to link arms with home builders who could build smaller, more affordable homes that could be affordable at the moment. If you look at just the homes that pretty and rents, 90% of our renters are not eligible for a mortgage. So you start there with a big issue that's in play in the affordability question more generally. Just know that on a like, for like basis to own a home relative to rent a home is about 40% more expensive. Mortgage rates are implicated by that, property taxes, insurance. So this is a larger issue, but one where, again, if we were to come up with a method by which a rent to own, a credible rent to own project could be put in place. I think private capital could be a key participant in that.

[Interviewer]

You talk about linking arms with other stakeholders. Home builders are obviously another important part of this conversation. And administration has had conversations with a lot of leaders there. What specifically can you do when you do link arms with, say, homebuilders or some of the other stakeholders? What proposals could you put forward if, of course, the idea of a complete institutional investor ban is unacceptable, which is to you?

[Stephen Shur]

Sure. Well, I think any solution to this, which is to migrate more and more people into a place where they can afford a home, is going to involve a lot of different parties, private capital being one, the homebuilders being another, banks and the GSEs around mortgage reform being yet another. And obviously the administration has taken steps, some steps now in terms of repurchases of mortgages to sort of bring that more in line. So it's going to take a lot to sort of pull that together. I'm quite confident, though, that private capital can play a role in it. By the way, that would not be new to this administration. Remember, in the first Trump administration, opportunity zones was signed into law in 2017. That was basically to take capital, private capital that was being harvested from one investment and put it to work in an opportunity zone, an area or a zone that had or was in need of capital. That was a very solid proposal and program. About $100 billion of private capital was put to work, by the way. It was made permanent in the second Trump administration. So there's a basis by which private capital can be harnessed and put to work. I think this is an extension of that. And I think if the administration were to sit down with a group of us, we could put a proposal, we could put a project together.

[Interviewer]

And after the truth, social bombshell, are we still in shock or have some of these conversations started to take place behind the scenes, at least within this group?

Sure.

[Stephen Shur]

Conversations, as you might imagine, have begun among industry participants, among the homebuilders, and those that are, that are representative or stewards of capital in the single family rental. Those conversations will prove constructive in as much as any. And all of us were surprised by the announcement. The issue of affordability is not news to us, and we have made inroads previously to try to Improve the ability of people that rent homes from us to ultimately migrate toward a place where they can own a home, credit improvement and the like.

[Interviewer]

We're speaking with Stephen Shur, the co president of pretty more than $60 billion in assets under management among the largest institutional owners of single family homes in the country.

[Marsh Representative]

I'm curious what the investment implications would be if we did see a ban. Where would the institutional capital go if you weren't able to invest in single family homes?

[Stephen Shur]

Well, I think it's important to note Secretary Besant noted that there is no intention here to compel sales. So there are large portfolios of homes that are still out there. There's also a multifamily business. If you just look at the business of premium, we are both on the equity and the credit side. We extend billions of dollars of credit that's given to us and invested with us that we extend out to smaller and mid sized home builders and developers. We have a mortgage business, we have a multifamily business. So there are various aspects of our business that would not be implicated even by the proposal that's been put on the table. But as I said, I don't view an outright ban as being the logical end state. I think there's an opportunity for a big beautiful housing bill to come together to which we would play a part. And then equally as I've spoken about the opportunity for private capital to play a very specific role in, in improving the ability of people to rent.

[Interviewer]

Still, the criticism of institutional investors of single family homes, it doesn't come as a surprise to you. Bill Pulte, FHFA was on earlier today on surveillance. He said, I was on board of Pulte Home for four years. I understand what institutional buying does. It's very powerful. Senator Elizabeth Warren has said that quote, Congress should work on legislation to stop corporate investors from buying, buying up homes. How would you respond to them specifically?

[Stephen Shur]

Well, they are right. I mean the amount of capital that private capital brings to the table is important, but it's important to understand how so. For example, large homebuilders are taking on projects all the time. If they have a project of 100 homes and private capital in the rent in the rental category are speaking for 25% or a third, those homes will get rented. That means that the other 2/3 to 3/4 are being sold to individuals that want to own a home. It just means that the project that homebuilders are taking on is de risked by the proposition that private capital is there. I'd also say as to Director Pulte's comments, it's important to note there's been a time migration as to how homes are bought in and among this industry. Okay. It began more than a decade ago as single family purchases on the MLS listing. These were largely homes that were in need of considerable capital. And companies like ours and others put $30,000 a home in to improve the housing stock. That has migrated now to where single family or single purchases on the MLS are a de minimis component of, of what's bought. So the notion that we are now, perhaps, as in the past, somehow boxing out individuals from owning a home, I just think is, is, is no longer right. It's no longer a contemporary observation of what's playing out.

[Interviewer]

You know, you make a point that this proposal is likely not to play out in its most extreme form. But for a second, can you sketch out the worst case scenario for the American public if something like this were to go into effect, if institutional investors were completely banned from buying homes, single family rentals?

[Stephen Shur]

Well, I think if, if private capital was sidelined, that would only serve to worsen the problem, not make it better. This is an enormous industry. So there are 145 million households in this country. About a third of them are rental. And by the way, it's been a third for a long time. So that hasn't changed. And the place of private capital to sustain that, to try to address the supply demand imbalance is an important component. So the reality is if private capital is pulled away, this would have negative, not positive effect on the ultimate solution to create an affordable stock of housing, which as I said earlier, is more acute on the rental side than it is on the home ownership side.

[Interviewer]

Stephen Scherer, co president of Pretty. I'm also Srinatharajan, chief Wall street correspondent, both joining us here in the Bloomberg studio.

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