Ro Khanna Reintroduces Bill To Rein In Corporate Landlords

India-West Staff Reporter

WASHINGTON, DC – Representatives Ro Khanna (CA-17), Katie Porter (CA-47), and Mark Takano (CA-39) reintroduced the Stop Wall Street Landlords Act, October 23, to end large institutional investors’ ability to use taxpayer dollars to subsidize the acquisition of single-family residential homes.

Since the 2008 housing crash and subsequent foreclosure crisis, increased investor activity in America’s housing market has normalized excessive fees and abusive practices while artificially driving up housing and rent prices, Khanna’s office said.

A press release said investors bought 18% of all homes that sold in the fourth quarter of this year and 26% of the most affordable homes. In California, Nevada, Florida, Georgia, and other states where corporate landlords own a large concentration of single-family homes used as rental properties, investors are driving up the cost of rent.

“Homes should be owned by people, not wealthy corporate landlords who are buying up affordable single-family homes and pushing the dream of homeownership out of reach for ordinary Americans,” said Khanna. “Affordable housing is one of the most pressing issues in my district and across the state. The Stop WallStreet Landlords Act will ensure that taxpayer dollars are not being used to fuel the housing crisis with more subsidies to corporate landlords. I’m proud to lead this effort with Representatives Porter and Takano to put affordable housing for families first.”

“As a single mom of three, it’s heartbreaking when my kids question whether they’ll be able to afford a home in the future,” said Porter. “Americans across the country, especially in my home state of California, are counting on lawmakers to lower the cost of housing.”

“With big corporations and private equity using their pricing power to raise costs on everything from groceries to gas, it is no wonder they are also targeting single-family homes,” said Takano. “Not only are “Wall Street landlords driving up the cost of housing by monopolizing ownership of single-family residences, but they are doing so by using taxpayer

“Low- and middle-income families in Western PA and across the country are being pushed out because of predatory practices by large corporate landlords buying up homes in our communities,” said Representative Chris Deluzio (PA-17).

“Owning a home has always been a big part of the American dream,” said Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12). “But because corporate investors buy up whole neighborhoods of single-family homes, leading to a rapid increase in the cost of housing, the idea of owning a home for many families across New Jersey remains just a dream.”

Specifically, the lawmakers expect the Stop Wall Street Landlords Act will:

• End large institutional investors’ ability to benefit from tax breaks reserved for homeowners – namely mortgage interest, insurance, and depreciation deductions.
• Direct the Federal Housing Financial Agency (FHFA) and related agencies Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae to (a) prohibit large institutional investors from purchasing mortgages on single-family residential (SFR) homes – or any interest in such a mortgage – and (b) from newly lending on a security or securitizing any SFR mortgage under which the mortgagee meets the bill definition of a specified large investor.
• Legislate a federal real estate transfer tax of 100% of the sale value of each SFR in the possession of a specified large investor if SFRs are not sold within 18 months of bill enactment.
• Promote the use of transfer tax revenue and deduction tax savings to fund the Housing Trust Fund, which enables affordable housing construction and preservation.
The bill makes exceptions for mom-and-pop landlords, housing providers that participate in federal affordable housing programs, nonprofits and developers committed to building and supplying affordable single-family homes to owner occupiers in the American housing market.

Several other lawmakers have signed the bill, as have some advocacy groups including California Democratic Renters Council, Churches United For Fair Housing, Consumer Action, Destination: Home, National Coalition for the Homeless, Private Equity Stakeholder Project, Sacramento Regional Coalition to End Homelessness.