42 U.S.C. § 19521: Homes are for people, not…

Summary

Large investment companies may not buy single-family homes starting 180 days after July 11, 2026. A "large institutional investor" is a for‑profit entity that invests in, owns, rents, or manages single‑family homes and controls 350 or more such homes after July 11, 2026 (governments are excluded). A "single‑family home" means a house with up to two separate living units and does not include manufactured homes. "Purchase" covers any way of getting a home, including foreclosures, mergers, construction, or bulk buys. There are many allowed exceptions (for example, certain newly built or renovated homes sold or kept as rentals by the investor, build‑to‑rent or renovate‑to‑rent programs that meet stated standards, structured homeownership or home‑boosting programs that include rent reporting and investor support, transfers tied to debt resolution or servicing, sales between covered investors, purchases from noncovered investors within 2 years of the law’s start, 55+ community homes that meet visitability rules, or combinations of these). The rule does not force investors to sell homes they owned before July 11, 2026, and it does not stop bankruptcy filings. The Treasury Department, working with HUD, FHFA, and the SEC, may write rules to implement the ban but may not change the law’s definitions, exceptions, eligible investor types, or the 350‑home threshold. Violations can bring civil fines up to $1,000,000 per breach or three times the purchase price, whichever is larger, and penalties collected (starting in fiscal year 2027 if Congress funds it) may be used for HOME program grants for building, buying, or fixing single‑family homes and helping first‑time buyers. The ban and penalties take effect 180 days after July 11, 2026 and expire 15 years after that effective date. HUD must set up a free phone line and public website within 180 days after July 11, 2026 to help renters of homes owned by large institutional investors report disputes, get help, and have potential federal law violations investigated. HUD must respond to renters, document actions, share information with other agencies, give renters state contact info for state law issues, protect personal data, and publish an anonymized annual report to Congress by March 31 on disputes and outcomes. Large institutional investors must give renters written notice about the HUD resource when they move in and each year, keep a contact person for renter disputes, post the resource on their website, and annually (by December 31, and first due within 180 days after July 11, 2026) tell HUD whether they meet the large‑investor test and list how many homes they control and where those homes are located (unless they own 10 or fewer homes in a city). The Comptroller General and HUD must each report to Congress 2 and 10 years after the ban starts on the law’s effects and possible adjustments.

Title 42, §19521

The Public Health and Welfare, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Definitions

In this section: (1) Consumer reporting agency

(2)Excepted purchase

The term “excepted purchase” means any purchase of a single-family home that is—

(A)newly constructed, renovated, or a rental conversion for sale by a large institutional investor and not as a residence rented pending sale;

(B)pursuant to a build-to-rent program where the large institutional investor purchases, constructs, or constructs and retains a newly constructed single-family homes to be managed as a rental property, whether as part of a community made up exclusively of renter-occupied single-family homes or as part of a community made up of single-family homes that are both owner- and renter-occupied;

(C)pursuant to a renovate-to-rent program that—

(i)substantially rehabilitates single-family homes that do not meet structural or core system elements of local building codes; and

(ii)makes improvements in an aggregate dollar amount of not less than 15 percent of the purchase price of the single-family home;

(D)pursuant to a homeownership program that—

(i)requires rental payments and any other fees that are not greater than those collected by the large institutional investor on other similarly situated single-family homes not covered by the eligible homeownership program;

(ii)is subject to a contract between the large institutional investor and renter that shall be considered a consumer credit transaction secured by a dwelling or real property;

(iii)provides for positive reporting of rental payments to consumer reporting agencies for any renter, who shall be informed of and opts into such reporting; and

(iv)requires contribution of meaningful financial support from the large institutional investor, including price concessions, for the purchase of the single-family home by the renter;

(E)pursuant to a program to boost homeownership that—

(i)provides for positive reporting of rental payments to consumer reporting agencies for any renter, who shall be informed of and opts into such reporting;

(ii)provides for the right of first refusal and a 30-day “first look” period; and

(iii)may entail the meaningful financial support from the large institutional investor, including price concessions, for the purchase of a single-family home by the renter (whether it is the home the renter occupies or another home);

(F)in connection with the satisfaction of debts previously contracted in good faith and where the large institutional investor has the right to repossess the single-family home under such contract;

(G)undertaken by a mortgage servicer, lender, or other entity that has a legal right to a single-family home, for the purpose of loss mitigation or compliance with servicing or investor obligations, and not as a long-term investment strategy, and is solely as a result of—

(i)a foreclosure;

(ii)a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure;

(iii)enforcement of a mortgage, deed of trust, or other security interest; or

(iv)operation of law following borrower default;

(H)purchased from another large institutional investor that either owned the single-family home on July 11, 2026, or purchased the single-family home in compliance with this section;

(I)purchased from an investor not covered under this section, so long as the purchase occurred not more than 2 years after the effective date under subsection (f);

(J)newly constructed, renovated, or a rental conversion that is intended and operated for occupancy as part of a community for households with 1 or more members aged 55 years or older, and satisfies visitability standards established by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development; or

(K)purchased through a single purchase or combination or series of purchases described in subparagraphs (A) through (J).

(3)Large institutional investor (4) Purchase

(A)In general

The term “large institutional investor”— (i)

(ii)does not include any local, State, Tribal, or Federal government entity or instrumentality thereof.

(B)Rule of construction

For purposes of this paragraph, an entity has direct or indirect investment control over a single-family home if the entity—

(i)owns, or has primary authority or fiduciary responsibility to make material investment or management decisions relating to, the single-family home;

(ii)is, or directly or indirectly controls, the general partner or managing member of the entity that owns the single-family home;

(iii)is or controls the investment manager, management company, or investment advisor of the entity that owns the single-family home;

(iv)owns or controls more than 25 percent of any class of equity interests of the entity that owns the single-family home, unless such entity is a passive investor; or

(v)otherwise controls the entity that owns the single-family home.

(5)Single-family home

The term “single-family home”—

(A)means a structure that contains 2 or fewer dwelling units that are each intended for residential occupancy by a single household; and

(B)does not include a manufactured home, as defined in section 5402 of this title.

(b)Prohibition on purchases by large institutional investors

(1)In general

No large institutional investor may purchase, or enter into a contract to directly or indirectly purchase, any single-family home.

(2)Exceptions

The prohibition under paragraph (1) shall not apply to—

(A)any excepted purchase; or

(B)any purchase of a single-family home in connection with a restructuring or other reorganization of ownership of single-family homes that were owned or purchased on or before July 11, 2026.

(3)Rule of construction

Nothing in this section may be construed to—

(A)require any large institutional investor to divest or otherwise sell any single-family home purchased before July 11, 2026; or

(B)prevent the filing of a petition, or otherwise affect any bankruptcy proceeding, under title 11.

(4)Implementation

(A)In general

In consultation with the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the Director of Federal Housing Finance Agency, and the Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Secretary of the Treasury may issue regulations in accordance with the notice and comment rulemaking procedures under section 553 of title 5 to carry out the purposes of this section, including regulations to—

(i)minimize market disruptions upon identifying a risk of material negative impact on the housing market, including an impact on the ability of market participants to dispose of single-family homes in an orderly fashion; and

(ii)mitigate, to the extent possible, negative impacts on consumers and communities.

(B)Rule of construction

For the avoidance of doubt, no regulation issued under subparagraph (A) may amend the definitions of the terms defined under subsection (a), including to—

(i)alter the scope of excepted purchases in a manner that would undermine the goal of expanding the number of single-family homes available to individual households for purchase;

(ii)alter any type of excepted purchase in a manner that would undermine the goal of expanding the number of single-family homes available to individual households for purchase;

(iii)add any category of large institutional investor as an eligible class if not determined by this section; or

(iv)alter the quantitative threshold in the definition of “large institutional investor”.

(c)Renter outreach resource established

(1)In general

The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (in this subsection referred to as the “Secretary”) shall, not later than 180 days after July 11, 2026, establish a renter outreach resource that consists of a toll-free telephone number and a public website designed to assist renters of residential properties owned by a large institutional investor in— (A)

(B)sharing information about such disputes with other Federal agencies, including other Federal agencies that manage similar disputes;

(C)monitoring such disputes; and

(D)resolving such disputes, to the extent practicable.

(2)Response to outreach

(A)In general

The Secretary shall establish reasonable procedures to—

(i)promptly respond, in writing where appropriate, to a renter who provides information to the Secretary about a dispute using the renter outreach resource established under paragraph (1); and

(ii)document such responses.

(B)Contents

Responses provided under subparagraph (A) shall include, where appropriate, information about—

(i)steps that have been taken by the Secretary or another Federal agency in response to the information about the dispute provided by the renter, including determining the appropriate large institutional investor involved as described in paragraph (3);

(ii)any responses received by the Secretary or another Federal agency from the large institutional investor related to such dispute; and

(iii)any outcome of the dispute, to the extent practicable.

(3)Investigation of potential violations of Federal law

(A)In general

The Secretary shall promptly process and investigate any information relating to a dispute received through the renter outreach resource established under paragraph (1) about a potential violation of Federal law that is received from a renter of a residential property owned by a large institutional investor through the renter outreach resource established under paragraph (1), including—

(i)requesting information from a large institutional investor;

(ii)determining the appropriate large institutional investor involved in the dispute; and

(iii)sharing information about such potential violation of Federal law with any relevant Federal agencies, as the Secretary may determine appropriate.

(B)Responses to requests for information

Upon request for information made pursuant to subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall provide a large institutional investor the opportunity to respond, including regarding whether such large institutional investor currently owns the property described in such request for information.

(4)Information for appropriate State authority

When the Secretary receives information about a potential violation of State law or about a dispute received through the renter outreach resource, from a renter of a residential property owned by a large institutional investor through the renter outreach resource established under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall, at a minimum, provide the renter with contact information for the appropriate, State-specific, State authority authorized to process and investigate such information.

(5)Notice about renter outreach resource

Each large institutional investor shall—

(A)provide to each renter of a residential property owned by such investor at the time such renter first occupies such home and annually thereafter—

(i)written notice about the renter outreach resource established under paragraph (1); and

(ii)the name, phone number, and email address of the person or entity responsible for receiving and addressing renter disputes for the large institutional investor, and update the name, phone number, and email address within 30 days if such information changes prior to the subsequent time at which such notice is required to be provided; and

(B)prominently feature information about the renter outreach resource established under paragraph (1) on a public website of such investor that is accessible by such renter.

(6)Annual report to the Congress

(A)In general

The Secretary shall, not later than March 31 of each year, submit to the Congress a public report which analyzes and aggregates the information received or obtained pursuant to this subsection during the prior year that includes—

(i)information about the types and the number of disputes received about potential violations of Federal law;

(ii)information about the types and the number of disputes received about potential violations of State law;

(iii)where practicable, information about the resolution of such disputes; and

(iv)information provided to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under paragraph (8).

(B)Anonymization of data

Any data included in a report that is submitted under this paragraph shall be aggregated or anonymized so as to protect any individual dispute or personally identifiable information received through the renter outreach resource.

(7)Protection of personal information

In complying with the requirements of this subsection, the Secretary shall take such measures as the Secretary determines are necessary to provide for the protection of personally identifiable information received through the renter outreach resource in a manner that conforms with existing standards for protection of the confidentiality of personally identifiable information.

(8)Annual notification

Not later than 180 days after July 11, 2026, and not later than December 31st of each year thereafter, each person or entity that satisfies the definition of a large institutional investor, as such term is defined in subsection (a), shall—

(A)notify the Secretary each year whether such owner is a large institutional investor as defined in subsection (a); and

(B)in such notification, identify how many single-family homes such large institutional investor has direct or indirect investment control of as of the date of the submission of such notice, and the city and State where each such single-family home is located, unless such large institutional investor owns 10 or fewer single-family homes in such city.

(d)Enforcement

(1)Civil penalties

The Secretary of the Treasury, or the Attorney General at the request of the Secretary of the Treasury, may bring an action against a large institutional investor that violates subsection (b) for a civil penalty in an amount that is not more than $1,000,000 per violation, or 3 times the purchase price of the property involved, whichever is greater.

(2)Transfer to HUD for homeownership expansion activities

For fiscal year 2027 and each fiscal year thereafter, to the extent and in the amounts provided in advance in appropriations Acts, civil penalties assessed under this section shall be transferred to and available to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to provide additional funding for the HOME Investment Partnerships program under subtitle A of title II of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 12741 et seq.), to be allocated in accordance with the formula under that program, for new construction, acquisition, and rehabilitation of single-family homes and to provide assistance grants to first-time homebuyers, which may be for downpayments, closing costs, and interest rate buydowns.

(e)Studies on large institutional investors

(1)GAO report

Not later than 2 years after the date on which the prohibition under subsection (b)(1) takes effect, and again not later than 10 years after that date, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives a report on—

(A)the impact of the ownership by large institutional investors of single-family homes on housing availability and affordability for renters and homebuyers; and

(B)the effectiveness of this section in reducing demand by large institutional investors for single-family homes and expanding homeownership for renters and homebuyers.

(2)HUD report

Not later than 2 years after the date on which the prohibition under subsection (b)(1) takes effect, and again not later than 10 years after that date, the Secretary of the Housing and Urban Development, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, the Administrator of the Rural Housing Service, the Executive Director of the Loan Guaranty Service of the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Chair of Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, shall submit to the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives a report on—

(A)whether there should be adjustments to the definition of the term “large institutional investor”;

(B)the financial impact of this section on large institutional investors, renters, and homebuyers; and

(C)any legislative recommendations regarding ways to improve the authorities provided under this section to increase the supply and affordability of single-family homes for purchase by individual homebuyers.

(3)Sense of Congress

It is the sense of Congress that—

(A)this section is intended to expand the number of single-family homes available to individuals for purchase and is aimed at preserving and expanding the supply of single-family homes available to individuals; and

(B)any further study on the effectiveness of this section and any legislative recommendations therefrom should consider this sense of Congress.

(f)Effective date

The requirements and prohibitions under subsections (b) and (d) of this section— (1)

(2)are repealed on the date that is 15 years after the effective date under paragraph (1).

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

The Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act, referred to in subsec. (d)(2), is Pub. L. 101–625, Nov. 28, 1990, 104 Stat. 4079. Subtitle A of title II of the Act is classified generally to part A (§ 12741 et seq.) of subchapter II of chapter 130 of this title. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see

Short Title

note set out under section 12701 of this title and Tables.

§19521 Homes Are for People, Not Corporations

Summary

Title 42, §19521

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

Short Title

Citations & Metadata