SFR glossary

A collection of frequently used terms in the single-family rental industry.

Asset-backed securities

These are investments that promise profits from revenue that’s on the way. That can be expected payments on a loan or lease.

Corporate landlords

For-profit organizations with diverse structures that buy or manage portfolios of single-family homes that they put on the market as rentals. Observers of the growing single-family home rental business sometimes use the term institutional investors and corporate landlords interchangeably.

Foreclosure

When a lender moves to collect money owned on a loan that a borrower fails to pay off. That can include seizing a mortgaged property and selling it to collect some value.

Institutional investors

Organizations, including companies, that invest money on behalf of others. That can include hedge funds, endowments, mutual funds and others.

Rental-backed security

In the corporate, single-family home rental industry, it’s future rent revenue that brings value, with home deeds offered as collateral.

SOURCES: Investopedia.com; office of US Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif.; Urban Democracy Lab; New York University