Overview
- A provision authored by Sen. Raphael Warnock is now federal law as part of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act and bars large institutional investors from buying additional single-family homes.
- The law targets investors that own or control large portfolios and, according to reporting, applies to firms meeting a 350-home ownership threshold for the prohibition on new purchases.
- The statute allows several exceptions, including purchases of newly built homes for build-to-rent projects, substantially rehabilitated properties, qualifying lease-to-own or homeownership programs, and certain foreclosure or loss-mitigation acquisitions.
- Local leaders and housing advocates in Atlanta held events to celebrate the measure after reports that more than 72,000 single-family rentals in metro Atlanta are owned by corporate investors, a concentration critics say reduced chances for first-time buyers.
- The broader ROAD package also funds steps to increase housing supply, modernize appraisals, expand rural programs, and provide repair and weatherization grants, but officials have not yet detailed enforcement rules or the law’s long-term effects on prices and rentals.