Reps. Emilia Sykes, Summer Lee Introduce Bill to Crack Down on Corporate Investors Buying Up Local Homes, Driving Up Housing Prices
Legislation Would Restrict Tax Breaks for Private Equity Firms and Other Large Outside Investors that Buy Up Homes in Local Communities
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Representatives Emilia Sykes (OH-13) and Summer Lee (PA-12) introduced the Houses Over Middle-Class Exploitation Schemes (HOMES) Act to restrict tax breaks for big corporate investors that buy up homes, often driving up local housing prices and rents. This legislation would prohibit an investor who acquires 50 or more single-family rental homes from deducting interest or depreciation on those properties. The bill restricts tax breaks for private equity and large investors that currently give them an advantage in the market for affordable single-family homes and helps make homeownership a reality for more families across the country.
“With home prices continuing to soar, many Ohioans are struggling to afford homeownership and some are being priced out of the neighborhoods they’ve lived in all of their lives. It’s unfair for homeowners to have to compete with deep-pocketed investors who are adding to their real estate portfolios, meanwhile they drive up rents and reduce the housing supply while receiving generous tax breaks,” said Rep. Sykes. “My bill would prevent corporate landlords from driving up local home prices and restore power to working people who want to buy a home to live and raise their families in.”
“Every single day in Western PA, I hear from families who are being pushed out of their neighborhoods and priced out of their dreams of homeownership because these giant corporate landlords are snatching up homes just to turn a profit” said Rep. Lee. “Housing is supposed to be a human right – not a way for wealthy investors who don’t even live here to line their pockets while our communities fight for stable, safe homes. The HOMES Act is about putting people over profits and protecting working families from being exploited in this disastrous housing crisis. Our communities deserve real neighbors, not faceless corporations treating homes in our neighborhoods like their personal stock portfolios.”
Private equity and other Wall Street-backed outside investors are a growing problem in local housing markets and contribute to pushing home ownership further out of reach for many working families. In 2021, 16% of homes in Cleveland were purchased by investors, with one zip code reaching 70%. In Cincinnati, they bought 15% of homes, reaching nearly 50% of homes in some communities. On one street, a single company bought 29 homes. Large investors use technology and all-cash offers to outcompete individual buyers. And because investors often target the same types of affordable starter homes as first-time homebuyers, they push families out of the housing market.
The HOMES Act is endorsed by Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), and National Housing Law Project (NHLP).
Rep. Sykes is Chair of the New Democrat Coalition Affordable Housing Task Force.