October 14, 2015

Mr. Stephen Schwarzman Blackstone Group CEO 345 Park Avenue New York, NY 10154 Dear Mr. Schwarzman, We are Blackstone tenants and organizations that represent communities from around the world. We span 3 continents, 5 countries and over 20 cities. We are largely communities of color and working class communities. We were targeted by many of your executives, investors and the Big Banks with subprime loans. We were devastated by the housing crash that followed in 2008. We lost our homes and most of our wealth. Now, we are largely renters who cannot afford our rent, often paying over 50% of our income to housing. Many of us rent from you or live in neighborhoods where you own properties. We are also former homeowners who cannot buy a home because you and other speculators have bought up all the affordable ones. We know that Blackstone and your investors made significant profits in the last crash at our expense. We know that you are now seizing new opportunities to invest and cash in on our homes and communities again at our expense, this time at a significantly larger scope and scale. You are buying up our foreclosed homes and taking advantage of cheaper housing prices to create new and expanded rental markets, including the institutionalization of single family home rentals for the first time in the history of the US. You have securitized rentals. You are creating new financial instruments to make our homes and communities into liquid cash so you and your investors can make a lot of profit as quickly as possible. Blackstone, we know you. What we know best is the suffering you have caused thousands of our families across the world. We know the stress and angst families go through when you evict them so you can raise the rent. We know the sadness and declining performance children experience having to leave their school and friends. We know what it is like to have to take cold showers because Blackstone failed to fix the water heater. We know that Black families, immigrant families, families of color and lower income families find that Blackstone frequently declines their applications. You become one of the largest landlords in our city but we cannot communicate with our property manager. We are told to do everything online. Many of us have never met our property manager or anyone from Blackstone or one of its management companies. Now more than ever with Blackstone in town and its worldwide investors hungry for

returns on their investment we have less control than ever before over our communities and our lives. The list of suffering Blackstone causes goes on and on. We know for you this is just the beginning. Thousands perhaps even millions more homes and families lay in your wake. We also know for us it is just the beginning. We are just beginning to unite Blackstone residents throughout our cities and all over the world to get to know each other, share experiences and demand and win -- respect, dignity and control over our homes and communities. Collectively, we have 7 common international demands from Plataforma de Afectados por la Hipoteca (PAH-Spain) and Right To The City National Alliance (US). Currently, over 40 organizations representing 3 continents, 5 countries and 24 cities from around the world have endorsed our campaign. We call on Blackstone to do the following immediately: · 1. Stop Buying Our Occupied, Foreclosed and Subsidized (Public or Social) Housing o Do NOT destabilize our communities by buying homes that should be owned by individuals, the government or local entities o End of the purchase of homes owned by banks rescued with public money or homes that were purchased with subprime loans 2. Halt Unjust Evictions o Stop unjust evictions of homeowners or tenants in purchased properties o Stop forcing tenants out of homes due to harassment, failure to make repairs and charging unjust fees 3. Institute Affordable Rents o Do not charge unfair rents o Do not make people pay more than ⅓ of their income to housing o Ensure that 25% of all Blackstone housing in a city is affordable to poor people who make 0 to 30% neighborhood median income 4. Ensure Quality Conditions and Sustainability o Renovate all purchased homes to a high quality o Maintain all properties in good condition o Make prompt and quality repairs o Ensure all energy/utility systems and materials used in building/repairs are sustainable 5. Stop Discriminating o Do not discriminate against people of color or immigrants including denying their applications based upon immigration status or unfair, excessive criteria regarding former incarceration or arrests o Allow equal access to Blackstone homes for all people regardless of race, nationality, age, gender, sexual orientation, disability, family status, immigration status, former incarceration/arrests, eviction history or credit history 6. Be Accountable o Provide responsive and quality customer service o Provide full name and contact information for one consistent person from Blackstone’s property management company who has full authority to address tenant’s issues promptly and effectively 7. Be Transparent. Provide the public with business/industry information including:

o o o o o

Provide names of all the companies Blackstone has any ownership in or control over and what properties they relate to and how Provide terms of purchase of all housing purchased Provide regular updated list of which properties are securitized, and who are the investors including banks that put up any money Provide regular updated list of properties that are directly or indirectly managed by Blackstone worldwide Provide regular updated list of all those evicted from each property and why (names can be withheld if it is required by law)

To communicate with us, contact Santi Mas de Xaxàs Faus (PAH) at [email protected] and Tony Romano (Right To The City) at [email protected]. Sincerely, Plataforma de Afectados por la Hipoteca (Spain) and Right To The City National Alliance (US) Endorsers SPAIN Barcelona, PAH Barcelona Barcelona, PAH Ripollet Barcelona, PAH Garraf Barcelona, PAH Terrassa Lanzarote, PAH Lanzarote Manresa, PAHC Bages Sevilla, PAH Sevilla UNITED STATES Atlanta, Occupy Our Homes Atlanta Baltimore, National Economic and Social Rights Initiative Boston, Chinese Progressive Association Boston, City Life / Vida Urbana Boston, Right To The City Boston California, California Reinvestment Coalition California, Tenants Together Chicago, Centro Autonomo Chicago, People’s Institute for Housing Justice Detroit, People’s Platform Jackson MS, Cooperation Jackson Los Angeles, East LA Community Corporation Los Angeles, Korean Immigrant Workers Alliance Los Angeles, Strategic Action for a Just Economy Minneapolis, Inquilinxs Unidxs Miami, Miami Workers Center New York, Align: The Alliance for a Greater New York New York, Fifth Avenue Committee New York, Neighbors Helping Neighbors New York, New York Communities for Change New York, Hedge Clippers

New York, Real Affordability for All New York, Tenants and Neighbors New York, Urban Homesteading Assistance Board New York, Crown Heights Tenant Union New York, Cooper Square Committee New York, AKNY - Greece Solidarity Movement Oakland, Urban Habitat Phoenix, Center for Neighborhood Leadership Poughkeepsie, New York, Nobody Leaves Mid-Hudson Rochester NY, Take Back The Land Rochester San Francisco, Housing Rights Committee San Francisco / Oakland, Causa Justa :: Just Cause San Francisco, Anti-Eviction Mapping Project Santa Fe NM, Chainbreaker Collective Seattle, Tenants Union of Washington Seattle, Standing Against Foreclosures and Evictions Springfield MA, Springfield Nobody Leaves IRELAND Dublin, Irish Housing Network JAPAN Tokyo, Apoyo a la PAH UK London, Stop Blackstone UK INTERNATIONAL International Alliance of Inhabitants