Kushner-Linked Firm and Gig Economy Set to Reap Huge Profits as Mass
Evictions Begin
With threats of homelessness and bankruptcy in the air as the eviction
moratoriums subside, both renters and small landlords are getting pinched by
predatory tech capitalism as the gig-economy hits the real estate market.
by Raul Diego
September 23rd, 2020
By Raul Diego
In 2014, former Blackstone and Goldman Sachs investment banker Ryan Williams
got together with his "college buddy," Joshua Kushner - Jared's brother - to
form a real estate investment platform they called Cadre. Cadre sought to
disrupt the real estate industry in the wake of the 2008 subprime mortgage
crisis by tinderizing property deals through a tech platform that brought
investors and sellers together. According to Williams, whose other investors
include George Soros and Peter Theil, Cadre's mission is "to level the
playing field in an industry that is often tilted toward the biggest
players" by taking an "offline" industry online and making it "transparent."
A pre-Covid initiative to capitalize on its platform came in the form of the
so-called "opportunity zones," that Jared Kushner directly lobbied for
inclusion in Trump's 2017 Tax Cut and Jobs Act, billed as a funding
mechanism to help poor and distressed communities, which turned into a
multi-billion-dollar land heist by the wealthiest Americans, like the
Kushner family. The pandemic lockdown protocols forced Cadre to downsize,
laying off 25 percent of its workforce in March.
But now, the company is restarting its predatory engines as the home
eviction wave forming on the horizon signals potential windfalls for
companies like Cadre, that are in a position to profit. It is doing so by
launching a pop-up banking operation called "Cadre Cash," which will try to
lure deposits from "investors" by offering a three percent annualized
"reward" to finance a new round of land-grabs as millions of Americans
teeter on the edge of homelessness and landlords look to unload un-rentable
properties.
Another company, Civvl, is tackling a different side of the burgeoning
housing crisis in America with its on-demand service model for eviction
crews. Just like Uber, the Civvl app lets "frustrated property owners and
banks secure foreclosed residential properties" by connecting haulers and
the rentier class.
Civvl's parent company, OnQall, specializes in mobile app platforms that
monetize side-hustles like moving, cleaning and lawn care services. The
eviction crew app has, predictably, drawn a storm of criticism since
Motherboard's article on Civvl this past Monday.
Tech Giants Eye Lucrative Rent Market as End to Eviction Moratorium Could
Leave Millions Homeless
A "tsunami" of evictions is about to sweep across the United States when the
120-day moratorium ends today, threatening millions of Americans with
homelessness or worse - a new set of landlords called Facebook, Google and
Apple.
MintPress News | Raul Diego | Jul 27
"It's fucked up that there will be struggling working-class people who will
be drawn to gigs like furniture-hauling or process-serving," exclaimed
housing activist Helena Duncan, who also pointed out the clear dystopian
contours evident in a scenario where working class people are paid to wage
economic warfare on fellow working class people. Civvl puts up a
disingenuous defense against the earned invectives, comparing itself to
Monster.com. "They're not evicting anyone," a Civvl spokesperson told
Motherboard, "they're just the help."
Both Cadre and Civvl are poised to make a killing as eviction moratoriums
abate across the country and millions find themselves on one side or another
of evictions - tenants forced onto the streets by small landlords who will
have little choice but to sell in a depressed market. Only the CDC's
national eviction moratorium, issued three weeks ago, stands in the way of
the avalanche of displacement and dispossession at our doorstep. But, even
the risks of fines and jail time doesn't seem to be discouraging companies
like OnQall or landlords, in general.
Ridiculous loopholes
Cadre, in particular, is at the head of the pack of "disruptive" real estate
tech platforms mostly due to the favor it enjoys in the halls of the Trump
administration. "Jared was one of the key people early on. And his
contributions were critical," says Cadre CEO Ryan Williams of Jared Kushner,
whose stake is worth over $50 Million, according to 2018 SEC filings.
Despite claims that Kushner sold a "substantial portion" of his shares in
the company and that the president's son-in-law has no role in the business
endeavor, recent history surrounding the so-called "opportunity zones" of
Trump's Tax bill revealed Cadre's and Kushner's central role in a
multi-billion dollar land heist by the wealthiest Americans, like the
Kushner family.
Big Tech Giants are Forcing Their Way into America's Public Health System
Tech players like IBM, Microsoft and Facebook are teaming up with the
Vatican and lobbying groups to shape America's public health system.
MintPress News | Raul Diego | Jul 29
Paying lip service to the same "diversity" principles Cadre's African
American founder asserts underlie his company's vision, the more than 200
federally-designated "opportunity zones" for disadvantaged communities that
resulted from the legislation, Cadre's machine-learning and processed census
data was simply serving to make a "ridiculous loophole" available to wealthy
investors to buy up land at a serious discount.
The bulk of the opportunity zone funding, some of which was set up by
William's former employer and Cadre investor, Goldman Sachs, went to
high-end real estate development projects in affluent areas, retail
developments and luxury hotels, such as Richard Branson's 225-room hotel in
William's home state of Louisiana, less than two miles away from one of the
poorest parts of New Orleans. The project had been announced by Branson a
year before the tax-cut legislation was signed into law, but nevertheless
qualified to participate in the opportunity zone program.
Picking up the bodies
The housing catastrophe in the United States is barley gathering steam, and
while many landlords and property owners still face legal challenges in
cases where eviction moratoriums remain in place, the loose patchwork of
laws governing property rights across the nation - not to mention
foundational ideology - gives companies like Civvl and Cadre the chance to
circumvent these and rely on naked power to drive people away from their
homes or convince them to sell it to massive real estate concerns, like CBRE
or Kushner's rich buddies.
Civvl is confident that they can take advantage of people's lack of
knowledge about their rights to make money as the eviction middle man.
Indeed, the company is betting that municipal and federal authorities will
see things their way. "This is something that has to be done," says a
company spokesman. "Listen," he continued, "if someone is killed on the
street, someone needs to go pick their body up."
