CINCINNATI — One of Cincinnati’s most controversial landlords is shaking up its business practices as it struggles to reduce a $2.5 billion debt load that’s seven times larger than its annual revenue.
VineBrook Homes has sold more than 500 Cincinnati-area homes in the last three years, about 15% of its local portfolio, while replacing its property management division with a new third-party vendor focused on “portfolio optimization, revenue and expense oversight.”
Its Cincinnati rents, already the highest among 24 cities where VineBrook competes, increased 10% to $1,378 since January 2023. And its new property management approach with Evergreen Residential eliminated 500 jobs nationwide, including about 60 people who worked in the Cincinnati area.
Despite all the changes, VineBrook remains among the region’s most aggressive eviction filers, with court records showing more than 200 cases filed by its corporate affiliates in Hamilton County this year.
“We get about 10 eviction intakes per month from them, along with many more conditions complaints,” said Nick DiNardo, a managing attorney for Legal Aid Society of Greater Cincinnati. “Since their model appears to be based on not providing maintenance or local professional management, while inflating rents, it's not surprising to me that their house of cards crumbled. This model has failed before and will continue to fail in the future.”
Watch below as tenants tell us their path to buying their home, and the issues they've faced along the way:
VineBrook declined to be interviewed for this story but defended its rental prices as a “significant discount,” compared to “prevailing market rates” for comparable properties in Cincinnati.
It also said nearly 92% of its Cincinnati customers had “no open issues” relating to building repairs and service issues in 2025.
“VineBrook Homes is proud of its work to provide safe, quality, affordable housing solutions to the growing number of individuals and families seeking single-family rental homes,” said the company statement.
The WCPO 9 I-Team has been tracking VineBrook’s business practices since 2022, when critics alleged the company was driving up home prices and rental rates in Cincinnati neighborhoods while not taking care of its properties.
An I-Team analysis in December 2022 showed VineBrook ranked first in Hamilton County eviction filings. In January 2023, the city of Cincinnati sued VineBrook, alleging it reneged on a 2021 settlement to address code violations.
Legal Aid later joined the city lawsuit, accusing VineBrook of violating Ohio lease law with provisions that shifted maintenance costs to tenants and imposed fees for evictions and unnecessary service calls.
By the time Cincinnati settled its lawsuit with VineBrook in June 2024, the company had already sold about 300 of its local properties. And debt levels had emerged as a major problem for the company, according to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
VineBrook told investors every quarter since June 2023 that it doesn’t have enough cash to pay off debt coming due in the ensuing 12 months. In its most recent quarterly filing, VineBrook said it had $650.9 million in debt coming due by June of next year but “does not have sufficient liquidity to satisfy these obligations.”
Since then, regulatory filings show it raised $113 million from investors and borrowed another $505 million from new and existing lenders.
The debt rating agency Fitch has assigned AAA ratings to two major blocks of VineBrook debt, totaling about $800 million, indicating a low risk of default. And those ratings were affirmed in June, when Fitch analyzed the impact of VineBrook’s new deal with Evergreen.
“Evergreen’s management experience is a crucial strength for growing its portfolio and staff during the VineBrook transition,” Fitch analysts wrote. “Evergreen plans to expand its workforce from 150 to 275 employees, incorporating existing VineBrook staff to promote a seamless transition.”
VineBrook’s statement said Evergreen will “modernize and enhance our portfolio management platform with a focus on elevating the resident experience.”
VineBrook tenant Donald Tye said there is definitely room for improvement.
Tye claims he incurred unexpected fees and substandard service after renting a VineBrook home in Mt. Healthy eight months ago. His lease said monthly rent would be $1,295, but he actually pays $1,650 a month. He said VineBrook charges an additional $355 a month because utilities are in the company’s name.
Tye also claims VineBrook failed to fix and refused to remove a broken refrigerator when he paid cash for a replacement icebox.
Then, there is the matter of his front-yard tree. He claims its roots are growing into the home’s drainage pipes, which backed up several weeks ago to flood his kitchen and fill his bathtub, forcing him to “shower” at the bathroom sink.
When work crews finally cleared the clogged pipe with a drain snake in early October, they left behind a hole in the wall and a pipe sealed with duct tape.
“Why would you leave this job area without everything secured?” Tye said. “Why would you leave a hole in the wall, in the pipe also, with duct tape around it? And it’s still like that today, right now.”
Despite those problems, Tye said he wants to buy the home he’s now renting.
“It’s a nice place to raise kids, grandkids, whatever,” Tye said. “You ain’t got to worry about no traffic hurting the kids … there’s a lot of respectful people around this neighborhood.”
VineBrook said more than 200 of its Cincinnati-area homes have been purchased by owner occupants, which the company encourages with a “Pathway to Homeownership” program launched in 2024.
The company’s most recent annual report said the 200 homes sold in Cincinnati last year went for an average sale price of $101,015. One satisfied buyer in Mt. Healthy said VineBrook was easy to work with.
“This one appeared to be somewhat renovated,” Michelle Johnson said. “The kitchen seemed to be new.”
Hamilton County real estate records show Johnson paid $183,400 for a four-bedroom home on Sturgeon Lane that VineBrook purchased in 2022 for $150,200. But the company knocked about $6,000 off the price after her home inspection showed minor problems with electrical and drainage issues.
“We haven’t been here very long, but so far everything’s been going OK,” Johnson said. “Just make sure you get an inspection, make sure you do your due diligence and make sure that before you purchase or sign any contract, that you’re comfortable with the terms.”
