A NEW ECONOMIC MODEL
FoundersThe Rental Equity model was created by the co-founders of Renting Partnerships, Margery Spinney and Carol Smith. We are inspired by a long history of new economic thought (Click Timeline) as well as contemporaries working for social and economic justice. This includes Co-op Cincy in Cincinnati which launches worker owned businesses. Rental Equity is is the first housing model that makes it possible for long-term renters to earn financial equity by participating in the business of management.
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Building on SuccessThe prototype for Rental Equity was created by Margery Spinney in 2000, when she was the Executive Director of Cornerstone-Homesource Community Loan Fund (now Cornerstone Renter Equity). She partnered with the Franciscan Friars to organize residents for a housing redevelopment project they sponsored in the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood of Cincinnati. The new residents moved in during 2002. In 2012, an independent study published by the Ohio Housing Finance Agency proved her theory that "When properly organized, renters can reduce the costs of operating rental housing enough to offset the payment of financial credits worth up to $10,000 in ten years." The evaluation confirmed that "costs were comparable to those of similar properties that did not offer renter equity credits."
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Built to LastRental Equity produces financial equity through resident participation in community management. It is designed to reach households that cannot build wealth because they are left out of ownership. Rental Equity shares characteristics with other community ownership models.
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