Trade Group Forms for REO-to-Rental

Companies that manage single-family rentals have their own trade group: the National Rental Home Council (NRHC).

Just as the sector branches out into securitizing its rental flows, Colony American Homes, Invitation Homes, American Homes 4 Rent, and Starwood Waypoint Residential Trust have formed the association.

Blackstone unit Invitation Homes broke ground for the asset class when it issued the first securitization of rental payments from single-family homes in November of last year. The deal was worth $479 million.

Next up is a $513-million deal from Colony America that securitizes a single loan that is, in turn, backed by 3,399 single family residential properties.

Characterizing the industry’s role in the U.S. housing market as “small but critical,” the NRHC estimated that there are roughly 200,000 homes that are managed by professional firms and owned by institutional investors. The country has 14 million homes overall.

The NRHC’s formation comes amid growing questions about the sector’s potentially destabilizing impact on the country’s housing market. Last January Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA) sent a letter to House Financial Services Chairman Jeb Hensarling and Ranking Member Maxine Waters requesting Congressional hearings into securitizations of these rental payments. But Takano’s concerns about the sector went beyond the interest in issuing asset-backeds.