Listen to the Podcast Episode The public radio program Reveal filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Treasury Department in hopes of getting the identities of shell companies made public. Aired: January 7, 2020 | Transcript

The debate over California's housing crisis tends to center on the lack of housing and how much more housing needs to be built to meet demand.

But there's another part of the conversation that often gets left out. It has to do with who owns the housing that already exists.

The public radio program "Reveal" has found that 30 percent of California's residential real estate purchases in major cities, including San Diego, are being made by shell companies in cash. But who exactly is behind these companies?

"Reveal" is suing the Treasury Department to find out.

RELATED: New Book Exposes ‘Homewreckers’ Who Demolished The American Dream

Senior investigative reporter at "Reveal" Aaron Glantz and author of the new book, "Homewreckers," joined Midday Edition to talk about how this is impacting the state's housing crisis and denying first-time homebuyers from reaching the American dream.

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