Comparing an active rental listing to a renewal is sort of comparing apples to oranges. What if the house were vacant and were being re-rented? Would you ask market rent? A renewal won't show up as a rent comp, so who knows what the hedge fund's strategy will be on renewals. Both types of landlords have to weigh the same options when dealing with renewals: a known tenant vs potentially higher rents with turnover costs.
I do see some landlords get behind the market by doing favors instead of running a business. Then after years go by they wake up and realize they are several hundred dollars below market with maybe thousands in lost income. Much of that lost income could have been reinvested back into the property, but instead it's just lost. That income could have been reinvested in Capex further enhancing the property for tenants and increasing equity for the owner.
All of that said, I'm with you on being concerned about property ownership being concentrated in too few of hands in the future. It will be interesting to see how this plays out as the market cycles.
