House looks to cut limits on investor-owned homes from housing bill

With overwhelming support, the U.S. Senate has signed off on a sweeping housing policy bill intended to lower costs and increase supply amid rising demand. President Donald Trump says he is ready to sign it into law.

But that is not stopping a bipartisan effort in the U.S. House to strip out language in the bill that prohibits large corporations from owning rental properties.

The headwinds in the House come as residents in cities across the nation, including Atlanta, deal with rising home prices driven by low inventory that many blame on corporate landlords.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s 2023 investigative series “American Dream for Rent” found that corporations purchased more than 65,000 single-family homes over the past decade across the 11-county metro Atlanta region. These investor-owned homes were disproportionately found in Black communities and contributed to high prices and fees, frequent evictions and substandard conditions, the AJC found.

U.S. Rep. French Hill, an Arkansas Republican and chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, released a new version of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act late Wednesday.

The House proposal removes language passed by the Senate requiring companies to sell off homes built as rental properties within seven years. Large corporations would still be barred from owning more than 350 homes, but exemptions would allow the purchase of manufactured homes and properties built or renovated to be permanent rentals.

“Over the last couple of months, we’ve heard clear concerns from hundreds of members and stakeholders, and this bipartisan amendment reflects that feedback,” Hill said in a statement.

The House revisions come after pushback on the Senate bill, mainly because of the ban on investor-owned homes. Lawmakers, including the top-ranking Democrat on the Financial Services Committee, cited industry groups that said the language could backfire on the bill’s goal of lowering housing prices.

“We need to address stakeholder concerns that have been raised since passage in the Senate, especially about whether the bill now curtails the construction of new homes and creates other unintended consequences,” U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., said in a March statement about the Senate bill. “Given these changes, we must reconcile the House and Senate versions to produce the strongest possible housing legislation for our communities at home.”

If the revised House bill passes — there could be a vote as soon as next week — it will be sent back to the Senate for consideration.

Trump’s support for the Senate’s version, which was approved in March by a vote of 89-10, complicates things. The president is currently on an official trip to China and has not yet weighed in on the House proposal.

“I am asking Congress to pass that Bill, the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, which would ensure that homes are for people, not Corporations,” he wrote in a Monday post on Truth Social.

The Senate version of the bill is rooted in the belief that large companies acting as landlords are reducing the inventory of available homes for sale, making it more difficult for families who want to buy and not rent.

Georgia U.S. Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock both support the Senate version of the bill. Warnock serves on the Banking Committee and was heavily involved in negotiating the ban language. Before the release of the House amendment, he said he hoped his colleagues would listen to Trump and approve the Senate bill without changes.

“Large corporations are estimated to own roughly 30% of metro Atlanta’s single-family rental housing supply, pricing out thousands who want a piece of the American dream,” Warnock said Wednesday. “Georgians on the ground don’t want to compete with private equity to buy a home, and their representatives in Washington need to listen.”

But Republican leaders in the House said changes were needed. Speaker Mike Johnson claims the new text will alleviate concerns and allow the bill to get the votes needed to pass in both chambers with bipartisan support.

The National Association of Home Builders, a powerful industry group, had lobbied members of the House to drop the language requiring companies to sell off homes.