Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens recently endorsed Senator Raphael Warnock’s (D-GA) legislation to ban large investors, including private equity, from mass-purchasing single-family homes.
The Senator’s provision is part of the comprehensive 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act package, which the Senate passed with a vote of 89-10 on March 12.
In a statement, Mayor Dickens thanked the Senator for his tireless leadership in stopping the spread of large corporate investment. The Atlanta Mayor also views this as an enhancement to his Neighborhood Investment Initiative, which serves the same purpose but at a local level.
“This landmark legislation strengthens our Neighborhood Investment Initiative by providing new tools to preserve housing, tackle blight, and hold bad actors accountable for practices that make it harder for the average person to get and keep a home,” said Mayor Dickens. “By removing barriers to housing production and supporting homeownership, this bill helps expand opportunity and move Atlanta closer to a more equitable future for all.”
The Provision
The provision would specifically ban institutional investors from purchasing single-family homes if they own more than 350 such homes. This is crucial for Atlanta because 25% of its single-family rental market is owned by institutional investors who own more than 1,000 homes.
This legislation goes further and imposes a $1 million fine on institutional investors who purchase single-family homes.
Any fines collected under this legislation will be used for new housing construction and financial assistance for first-time homebuyers, building on the Senator’s initiative to support first-time homebuyers.
This project has been a long time coming, with Sen. Warnock working to secure its passage for almost a year.
For the Senator, this is about securing greater equity in the housing market.
“I’m thrilled that a provision that I negotiated to stop private equity and large corporations from mass purchasing single-family homes is on its way to becoming law,” said Sen. Warnock. “Let me make it plain: private equity’s greed is squeezing first-time homebuyers out of the market and pushing the American Dream further out of reach.”
