Colony Starwood Homes plays an important role in providing high-quality and affordable rental housing for thousands of
Americans. We pride ourselves on being a responsible landlord that provides our residents with an exceptional living
experience through the highest servicing standards. This includes ensuring our homes are well-maintained and
professionally managed so that our residents needs and expectations are consistently met. To accomplish this, we employ
more than 500 well-trained associates and our organization is structured so that we have a local presence via field offices
and team members in the markets we serve.
We believe our single-family rental homes play a critical role in today’s U.S. housing economy by combining the benefits
of single-family homeownership with the mobility and convenience that comes with renting. These factors appeal to a
wide demographic of families who prefer renting or who have been unable to purchase a home. Our high occupancy and
low resident turnover demonstrate the attractiveness of our homes and the effectiveness of our operating platform of
people, processes and technology, in which we continually invest.
Maintaining our high quality portfolio is a top priority. This involves carefully screening potential residents to ensure their
ability to meet their rental obligations and function as good neighbors. Our standard process involves a credit check,
background check, criminal records check and verification of income, as well as other factors, to help evaluate a potential
resident’s ability to become a successful, long-term member of our communities.
As it relates to customer service, we are proud to report that the vast majority of residents who recently submitted service
requests are very satisfied with their experience. On a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 representing the highest score, our overall
rating by residents was 4.6. In fact, across our national portfolio of more than 31,000 homes, less than 1% of our leases
are terminated annually as a result of service related issues. Further reflecting the high quality of service we provide, the
average length of our resident tenancies is three years, resulting in average turnover rates that are half those of
multifamily residential operators based on their published statistics.
Our goal is to respond to resident requests as quickly as possible. On rare occasions, when we do not live up to our service
expectations, we make every effort to promptly and sufficiently resolve issues. We understand and regret the
inconvenience this may cause our residents, and are always working to improve.
Our metro Atlanta portfolio includes more than 5,500 homes of which approximately 375 are located in Fulton County,
representing just ~1% of our nationwide portfolio. The share of residents in our homes located in Fulton County who
moved out due to an eviction in 2016 was approximately 10%, versus the 15% rate cited in the Atlanta Federal Reserve
study. It is important to note that the paper examines eviction notices, not actual evictions. It should be further noted that
the eviction rate in Fulton County is ~2x higher than our national average.
Across our entire portfolio in 2016, approximately 95% of our residents complied with the terms and obligations of their
leases. While we make every effort to keep residents happy and in their homes, in rare instances we may pursue an
eviction for various reasons, including non-payment of rent. Evictions take time and require significant resources of both
our company and the judicial process. There is nothing more detrimental to our resident relations than evictions. We work
hard to avoid them as best we can. No one wants to see people displaced from their home.
We are proud to be in the business of housing families, and since our inception we have invested more than $6 billion,
including over $750 million in property renovations and upgrades, to build a high-quality portfolio positioned to provide
rental homes in desirable communities for American families well into the future. In addition to providing a cost effective
alternative to purchasing a home—with rental rates determined by and in line with the broader market—we believe our
investments have a lasting positive impact on the communities in which we operate. We are proud of the role we have
played in helping to improve the country’s rental housing inventory, stabilize homes prices in times of distress, strengthen
neighborhoods and create jobs. And, we are honored to serve the thousands of renters across the country who call our
properties home. – Charles D. Young, Chief Operating Officer