Sens. Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) are introducing the Homes for American Families Act to ban Wall Street firms from buying up single-family homes across the United States. During his State of the Union address this week, President Donald Trump urged lawmakers to codify his executive order that does just that.
On Thursday, Hawley and Merkley announced the Homes for American Families Act, which would prohibit large institutional investors from buying single-family homes, townhouses, and condominiums.
“Wall Street has exploited the American housing crisis, turning the nation’s housing stock into a portfolio of rental properties,” Hawley said in a statement:
Families deserve to be able to buy their own homes and achieve the American dream without competing with big investment companies that irrevocably drive up housing prices. That’s why I am introducing legislation to ban Wall Street from buying single family homes once and for all. [Emphasis added]
Hawley and Merkley have also updated their legislation, known as the HOPE for Homeownership Act, which would incentivize Wall Street firms and hedge funds to divest their holdings of single-family homes.
“Houses in our communities should be homes for families, not profit centers for hedge funds,” Merkley said. “As corporate investors invade the housing market nationwide, we need action to protect hardworking Americans achieving the dream of homeownership. Now with bipartisan support, we have wind in our sails to finally crack down on billionaire corporations gobbling up American homes. I’m ready to work with the President, Republicans, and Democrats to get this over the finish line.”
During his State of the Union address, Trump pleaded with Congress to codify into federal law his executive order that bans large institutional investors from buying single-family homes to free up such homes for Americans.
“Another pillar of the American dream that has been under attack has been home ownership,” Trump said at the address:
With us tonight is Rachel Wiggins, a mom of two from Houston. She placed bids on 20 homes and lost all of those bids to gigantic investment firms that bypassed inspection, paid all cash and turned all those houses into rentals, stealing away her American dream. She was devastated. [Emphasis added]
Stories like this are why last month I signed executive order to ban large Wall Street investment firms are buying up in the thousands single family homes. And now I’m asking Congress to make that ban permanent, because homes for people, really that’s what we want, we want homes for people, not for corporations. Corporations are doing just fine. Rachel, thank you very much. Good luck with your home. You’ll get one soon. [Emphasis added]
The push by Trump was one of the few moments at the address that saw Republicans, as well as left-wing Democrats, such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), stand and cheer.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter here.
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