ATLANTA – Corporate landlords have been consolidating ownership in Georgia’s single-family housing market, drawing increasing criticism and political attention, including from U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff.

The Georgia Democrat said Monday that it’s too soon to know how a new state law requiring local managers might change things. Meanwhile, he said he wanted “to expose the mistreatment of renters by large out-of-state corporate landlords” in Georgia by conducting his own investigation.

Ossoff invited a lawyer and two renters to speak with reporters at his Atlanta office Monday about their experiences with such landlords. Attorney Esther Graff-Radford of Atlanta said renters waste many hours of personal and work time trying to correct billing errors or to coordinate maintenance.

Patrick Colson-Price of Smyrna said he found large quantities of glass, razor blades and other dangerous debris in his backyard, leading to the injury of one of his dogs. He said it took significant badgering and personal time to get his landlord to remediate the yard. He said he sent at least 30 emails with photographs and showed up at the company’s Atlanta office with a bucket of glass shards.

Shana Brooks-Wilhite, a renter in Stockbridge, said a carbon monoxide alarm went off in early December, leading to the discovery the stove and fireplace were leaking gas. She said that when she called the company, she was told it would take three weeks to send a repair person.

She said she had to spend more than she could afford on takeout food for herself and her son, while her gas bill doubled that month. And they had no heat in the depths of winter.

“We’re not humans to them. We’re dollar signs,” she said. “I felt completely worthless and small.”

Both renters said their landlord is Invitation Homes. A recent report by Georgia State University found that more than 19,000 metro Atlanta homes are owned by that company and two others, accounting for 11% of the single-family rental homes in Atlanta’s core counties.

An Invitation Homes spokesperson said in a statement that the company has over 200 associates in Georgia who “dedicate themselves to providing our local residents a positive experience throughout their stay with us.” When the company does “miss the mark, we acknowledge the mistake and work hard to make it right,” the statement added.

Other reports have found different numbers than Georgia State yet have revealed a similar story of consolidated ownership. It’s an investment strategy that became viable when new digital capabilities combined with the Great Recession to lower the opportunity cost.

Seven corporations own more than 51,000 single-family homes in the 21-county metro-Atlanta region, according to a blog by the Atlanta Regional Commission late last year. And the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported last year that Metro Atlanta was the top U.S. region for such consolidation, with 25% of the single-family home rentals — 71,832 homes — owned by large investors in 2022.

Last week, Gov. Brian Kemp signed House Bill 399 into law. The bipartisan legislation requires out-of-state investors who own and rent houses or duplexes to have a local broker and a local property manager.

Ossoff said he has launched an investigation to build a factual foundation for potential further intervention by local, state or federal government. He said such companies had harmed renters by failing to do timely repairs, by withholding security deposits and by imposing “junk” fees and higher rents.

He offered no timeline for completing his investigation. He asked renters who are experiencing problems with large corporate landlords to contact his office and make a complaint at ossoff.senate.gov/homestory. He promised anonymity for anyone who shares their story.