We work for housing justice and sustainable homeownership, and we take on abuses by Wall Street landlords to create a financial system that meets the housing needs of all and addresses the harms caused by our history of racist housing practices.
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Real Reform to Confront Private Equity Takeover of the Nation’s Housing
By: Caroline Nagy
Rising housing costs are a critical driver of the current affordability crisis, and they cannot be addressed without genuinely confronting the role of private equity and big investors buying up the nation’s housing stock.
The American Homeownership Act, introduced earlier this week by Senator Warren and 17 co-sponsors – does that. The bill would strip private equity and hedge fund landlords of highly profitable tax breaks subsidized by the U.S. taxpayer; fund programs that support housing for people, not corporations; and increase antitrust monitoring of the largest residential real estate acquisitions.
The American Homeownership Act is sorely needed: today nearly half of U.S. renters are paying higher rents than they can afford and homeownership is out of reach for most young people. People are struggling to save for a downpayment during a cost-of-living crisis, and now they must compete with all-cash purchases from private equity firms and investors, who bought a record three of ten homes last year.
Turning homes into commodities is worsening the housing crisis. As corporate investors including private equity firms continue to buy up single family homes, multifamily apartment buildings and complexes, and manufactured housing communities, affordable and safe housing is being pushed further out of reach. There are fewer homes available for sale, higher home purchase prices, and rising rental costs.
Corporate landlords gouge tenants with increased junk fees, skimp on maintenance and upkeep, and have higher eviction rates. Investors also tend to buy more homes in markets or areas with lower housing values, which means they are buying a disproportionate share of what would traditionally be considered starter homes.
Stopping Wall Street housing abuses like these is one key step to keep affordable and safe housing from being out of reach for too many people.
News & Updates
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Press Release: Tax & Housing Experts: Trump Executive Order Acknowledges Billionaire Role in Housing Crisis, but Falls Short on Solutions
Last week, the Trump administration acknowledged skyrocketing housing costs and the role billionaire control plays in pricing families out of homes. This comes after the president has tried to downplay affordability issues, revealing that the administration may feel vulnerable ahead of the midterms.
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Letters to Congress: AFR and Allies Urge Senate Leadership to Move Legislation to Get Wall Street Out of Housing
Today, AFR and more than 25 housing, civil rights, labor, consumer, and other advocacy groups sent a letter to the Senate urging support of the American Homeownership Act, introduced by Senator Elizabeth Warren, which would keep Wall Street investors from buying up the nation’s housing stock.
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Financial Regulation News: Sens. Warren, Merkley introduce bill to end tax breaks for corporate home buyers
The bill is endorsed by American Economic Liberties Project, American Federation of Teachers, Americans for Financial Reform, Communications Workers of America, Consumer Action, Grounded…
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U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs: Senate Democrats Introduce The American Homeownership Act To Stop Wall Street’s Housing Grab and Get Homes Back into the Hands of Families
“As record numbers of U.S. families struggle to pay the rent and young people are increasingly locked out of homeownership, we must take action…
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Seehafer News: Sen. Baldwin Takes Aim at Wealthy Investors Who Buy Up Single-Family Homes
The bill is supported by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, National Housing Law Project, National Consumer Law Center (on behalf of its low-income…
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Reports & Publications
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FIRE SALES TO WALL STREET: A Review of Government-Sponsored Residential Note Sales
Growing Wall Street control of single family homes is a contributor to our housing crisis, with mega single-family investors (those who own more than 1,000 homes nationwide) controlling an estimated 446,000 homes as of January 2025. Nationally, the presence of corporate landlords in a community has been associated with raised rents, junk fees, reduced maintenance,
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Rising Property Insurance Premiums: The Uneven Risks to Household and Systemic Financial Stability
Introduction Property insurance is growing more expensive and harder to obtain throughout the U.S. Climate change and the rising costs of severe weather damage are a crucial cause, but racial and economic inequities within the property insurance market are an important part of the puzzle, and they have been too frequently overlooked. In particular, recent
Advocacy
