Reps. Williams, Smith, Khanna, and Sánchez Introduce Protecting American Homes from Hedge Funds Act

New legislation would permanently drive hedge funds out of the single-family housing market

Washington, D.C. (July 13, 2026) – This week, Representative Nikema Williams (GA-05) joined Representatives Adam Smith (WA-09), Ro Khanna (CA-17), and Linda Sánchez (CA-38) to introduce the Protecting American Homes from Hedge Funds Act, legislation to remove hedge funds and large institutional investors from America’s single-family housing market and restoring opportunities to working-class communities these homes were intended to serve. 

This bill is introduced after the bipartisan 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act — the largest federal housing package in decades — became law over the weekend. That law caps institutional investor ownership of single-family homes at 350 units per entity, marking the first time Congress has acted to restrict corporate ownership of family homes. The Protecting American Homes from Hedge Funds Act builds on that foundation by phasing hedge funds out of the single-family housing market entirely. 

Congresswoman Nikema Williams (GA-05) said:

“Homeownership remains one of the most powerful pathways to building generational wealth and closing the racial wealth gap. Yet, across Atlanta and communities nationwide, working families are being priced out of the American Dream by hedge funds and corporate investors that can outbid them and buy up entire neighborhoods. The Protecting American Homes from Hedge Funds Act puts families—not Wall Street—first by helping level the playing field so more Americans can afford to buy a home, build wealth, and invest in their communities. The chance to own a home should never depend on whether a hedge fund got there first,”  

Though the 21^st Century ROAD to Housing Act is a step in the right direction, hardworking Americans deserve the chance to build wealth through homeownership without the threat of corporate greed.  

“This bill takes the next step. In 1971, my father bought the house I grew up in for $15,000 on the salary he earned as a baggage handler at SeaTac Airport,” said Rep. Adam Smith. “Today, families working just as hard as he did are losing homes to all-cash offers from investment funds that will never live in them. The Protecting American Homes from Hedge Funds Act will get these institutional investors out of our neighborhoods and put those homes back within reach of the families they were built for.” 

“Homes should be owned by people, not institutional investors. I’m proud to join this effort to make homeownership more affordable for families and to make the American dream of owning a home more accessible,” said Rep. Ro Khanna. 

“Homes are for families, not billion-dollar hedge funds. Wall Street has turned our housing crisis into a profit venture, buying up homes and pricing working families out of their own communities. Our bill will put a stop to this so that the American Dream is back within reach for those who want to live in a home, not just invest in them,” said Rep. Linda Sánchez. 

The bill is supported by a broad coalition of housing advocates, consumer protection organizations, fair housing groups, and economic justice organizations, including: Popular Democracy in Action, National Consumer Law Center (on behalf of its low-income clients), Private Equity Stakeholder Project (PESP), Americans for Financial Reform, National Housing Law Project (NHLP), Consumer Action, and Washington Low Income Housing Alliance. 

“The Private Equity Stakeholder Project is proud to support this essential bill. The Protecting American Homes from Hedge Funds Act would significantly level the playing field for the millions of Americans struggling to buy a home and prevent corporate landlords from using government assistance to expand their rental inventory,” said Chris Noble, Policy Director for the Private Equity Stakeholder Project. “This bill creates sorely needed guardrails to counter Wall Street profiteering amidst the ongoing housing affordability crisis facing our country.” 

“Private equity firms and hedge funds are snapping up housing with cash and pocketing lucrative tax breaks and getting sweetheart financing that makes it even harder for families to become first-time homebuyers,” said Caroline Nagy, Associate Director for Housing Policy at Americans for Financial Reform. “Americans for Financial Reform is proud to support the Protecting American Homes from Hedge Funds Act, which would kick big Wall Street landlords out of our single-family homes.” 

Background 

Following the 2008 housing crisis, large private equity firms and hedge funds bought substantial portfolios of foreclosed homes. In 2011, no single entity owned more than 1,000 single-family rental units. By 2022, large institutional investors and hedge funds owned roughly 700,000 single-family rental homes, and financial analysts have forecast that institutional ownership could reach 40 percent of all single-family rentals by 2030. 

A March 2026 Government Accountability Office study of six metro areas found that once homes enter the institutional market, they rarely return to families: in some regions, fewer than four in ten homes sold by institutional investors went to owner-occupants, with the rest cycling to other investors and corporate buyers. In the fastest-moving market GAO studied, institutional investors grew from 7 percent of single-family rentals to 22 percent in just six years. 

What the Bill Does 

The Protecting American Homes from Hedge Funds Act would: 

• Establish a tax penalty of 50 percent of the sale price for hedge funds purchasing additional single-family homes 
• Eliminate the depreciation and mortgage interest tax breaks that subsidize hedge fund homeownership 
• Require hedge funds to sell off their existing single-family home holdings over ten years — to families, not to other investment firms — with an annual penalty for failing to divest 
• Direct penalty revenue toward down payment assistance for first-time homebuyers 
• Exempt nonprofits, government entities, and organizations that primarily build or rehabilitate single-family housing 

A fact sheet is available here. Full bill text is available here.