Landlords, Rental Market Segmentation, and Latino Immigrant Incorporation

• In Event: International Migration Section Refereed Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): 10. Immigrant integration/assimilation

Abstract

A large body of research examines Latino immigrant neighborhood attainment and homeownership. Relatively less is known about the experiences of Latino immigrant renters, despite the fact that approximately half of all Latino immigrants rent their home. Compared to homeownership, the rental market has unique dynamics that are consequential for the wellbeing of immigrants and their children. For instance, landlords control which families access shelter, on what terms, their housing conditions after entry, and how and when families are forced to exit. Given the connections between housing cost, quality, and security on children’s outcomes, landlord practices operate as an understudied institutional facet of local context that is meaningful for immigrants’ incorporation experiences. In this paper, I draw on interviews with Latino immigrant families with children living in LA County to show how rental market exclusions channel immigrant movers to diverging housing outcomes. There are three main findings. First, I find that immigrant renters, particularly those who are undocumented or live in mixed-status households, are channeled to rentals owned by smaller-scale, non-professionalized landlords. Second, I find that immigrant renters’ experiences with these landlords diverge along two paths: one group benefits from timely repairs, below-market rent setting, and limited rent increases, while a second group rents from undercapitalized landlords that are unwilling or unable to make basic home repairs. Finally, I find that tenants in both groups often experience changes in these practices when properties pass down from parents to children or are sold to new owners, often in destabilizing ways. Taken together, the results show how rental markets operate as an understudied institution that shapes housing safety and stability among Latino immigrant families and their children.

Author

• Steven Edward Schmidt, Boston University