State Lawmakers Join Fight Against Wall Street Landlords

Pushback against hedge funds buying and renting out single-family houses grows as elected officials in a handful of state legislatures seek to curb the trend amid the housing affordability crisis.

2 minute read

April 30, 2024, 10:00 AM PDT

By Mary Hammon @marykhammon


White clapboard house with For Sale sign in front yard

Juice Flair / Home for sale

Following reports early in the year that investors snapped up a record number of homes to rent out in the fourth quarter of 2023, Democrats in the U.S. Senate and House introduced legislation in January that would ban hedge funds from the single-family housing market and require them to sell off all single-family homes they own over a decade. Momentum is now growing at the state level, according to a Wall Street Journal article by Will Parker.

Lawmakers in Ohio, Nebraska, California, New York, Minnesota, and North Carolina have proposed laws aimed at stopping Wall Street investors’ “home-buying spree,” which bill sponsors say are driving up home prices, pushing individual home buyers out of the market, and contributing to low inventory of affordable properties.

Some bills focus on limiting the number of rental-home ownership a company can own, forcing them to divest of any properties over that number — 100 under the North Carolina bill, 50 under the U.S. House and Senate bills and 20 under a Minnesota bill. Other states’ bills, including Ohio’s, would tax investor-landlords on what they consider to be excess properties to such an extent that they would be “compelled to sell,” reports Parker.

While most calls are coming from liberals, Parker writes that an increasing number of conservatives are expressing a need to curb the trend. One Republican Ohio senator described his state’s bill as “antitrust in spirit,” according to the WSJ. And though voters appear to be in favor them, the bills are not gaining traction in legislatures. Critics of such measures argue the culprit is lack of supply and high interest rates, not large single-family rental companies.

Monday, April 29, 2024 in The Wall Street Journal

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Cover CM Credits, Earn Certificates, Push Your Career Forward

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

June 11, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Metrorail train pulling into newly opened subterranean station in Washington, D.C. with crowd on platform taking photos.

Congressman Proposes Bill to Rename DC Metro “Trump Train”

The Make Autorail Great Again Act would withhold federal funding to the system until the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), rebrands as the Washington Metropolitan Authority for Greater Access (WMAGA).

June 2, 2025 - The Hill

Large crowd on street in San Francisco, California during Oktoberfest festival.

The Simple Legislative Tool Transforming Vacant Downtowns

In California, Michigan and Georgia, an easy win is bringing dollars — and delight — back to city centers.

June 2, 2025 - Robbie Silver

Bike lane in Washington D.C. protected by low concrete barriers.

DC Backpedals on Bike Lane Protection, Swaps Barriers for Paint

Citing aesthetic concerns, the city is removing the concrete barriers and flexposts that once separated Arizona Avenue cyclists from motor vehicles.

7 seconds ago - The Washington Post

Bird's eye view of studio apartment design.

In These Cities, Most New Housing is Under 441 Square Feet

With loosened restrictions on “micro-housing,” tiny units now make up as much as 66% of newly constructed housing.

2 hours ago - Smart Cities Dive

Man in teal shirt opening door to white microtransit shuttle with cactus graphics and making inviting gesture toward the camera.

Albuquerque’s Microtransit: A Planner’s Answer to Food Access Gaps

New microtransit vans in Albuquerque aim to close food access gaps by linking low-income areas to grocery stores, cutting travel times by 30 percent and offering planners a scalable model for equity-focused transit.

June 13 - U.S. Department Of Transportation