Tenant Equity Vehicle: Helping Renters Create Wealth
What Could Be
Renters build wealth through the value they create for developers
Should Be
Tenant equity models create pathways for the growing population of renters to benefit from the value of real estate appreciation
While homeownership remains one of the most reliable pathways to wealth building in the U.S., low supply and increasing costs mean fewer individuals and families have access to that opportunity. As the cost of homeownership has soared, fewer Coloradans are benefiting from the opportunity to build and pass on wealth.
To tackle this reality, Gary spearheaded the successful campaign for Colorado’s Proposition 123, which dedicates 0.1% of state income tax revenue to affordable housing and creates the nation’s first state-supported Tenant Equity Vehicle (TEV) to enable residents to share in property profits and build wealth.
By partnering with housing developers who have to access publicly invested funds, the TEV provides value for renters in two ways: 1) cash back in the near term and 2) access to profit share in the long term. This structure enables immediate cash benefit and wealth creation when the property is sold or refinanced.
Initially launched in 2022 by the Colorado Housing Accelerator Initiative (CHAI) as a Gary grant-funded pilot, the TEV model has successfully provided direct cash payments to hundreds of renters in select properties. Building on this success and integrating additional learnings from Gary’s investment in Enterprise Community Partners’ Renter Wealth Creation Fund, the state-supported TEV established by Proposition 123 is expected to launch in 2025 with its first residents, aiming to provide a statewide opportunity for wealth-building and economic mobility.
By leveraging creative financing, partnerships and policy, Colorado’s TEV aims to narrow the traditional renter-wealth gap in a housing market where homeownership is increasingly unattainable. By transforming housing costs into an opportunity to share in asset appreciation, the TEV serves as a critical blueprint for unlocking new and needed pathways to wealth building for the millions of American families who rent.
“Creating an investment fund is not a unique endeavor; there are thousands across the country. But most of those are built on an extractive model of raising rents, reducing expenses and creating attractive returns to investors. With the TEV, we’re reimagining this structure to create value for the renter so they can benefit from the stability, mobility and possibility that returns provide.”
Abby MurrayCo-Founder, Colorado Housing Accelerator Initiative
Our work to
Build fAMILY Wealth
Because building wealth across a household balance sheet requires more than one approach, we invest in opportunities that expand access to homeownership, employee ownership, shared real estate and financial accounts that grow in value over time.
