Senate Advances Bill to Ban Investors From Buying Single-Family Homes

WASHINGTON — The Senate on Monday approved a revised housing affordability package aimed at easing costs across the US, including a provision that would prevent institutional investors from purchasing single-family homes.

The updated 21st Century Road to Housing Act cleared the chamber with broad bipartisan support, passing by an 85-5 vote.

The five senators who opposed the measure were Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah).

Ahead of the vote, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott (R-SC) said the bill would help “lower costs, expand housing supply, cut red tape, protect taxpayers, and help more Americans achieve the dream of home ownership.”

“For me, this is personal. I know what it means for a family to have a safe, affordable place to call home because I watched my mother work hard to make that dream a reality in North Charleston, South Carolina,” Scott added.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), the committee’s ranking Democrat, described the legislation as “historic,” emphasizing that it would, “for the first time ever,” stop “private equity from buying up homes.”

The restriction on investor purchases was among the provisions sought by House lawmakers, who also backed a three-year extension of the Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery program to support cities and local governments after presidential disaster declarations.

The compromise measure also includes House-backed banking deregulation language intended to make it easier for smaller banks to reenter the mortgage lending market.

The House’s version had been approved in an overwhelming 396-13 vote in May, while the Senate version passed in an 89-10 vote in March.

Some GOP lawmakers had balked at the Senate’s bill initially due to it having been crafted by Warren.

Rep. French Hill (R-Ark.), the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said in a statement that nine of his chamber’s key provisions ended up in the final package and the bill was “a meaningful step toward increasing housing supply, improving affordability, and helping more Americans achieve homeownership.”

“I look forward to President Trump signing it into law,” Hill added.

Trump had first called on Congress in January to pass legislation stopping investors from scooping up single-family homes, eventually signing an executive order that requested the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission look into Wall Street purchases “for anti-competitive effects.”