HOME Act of 2025
- Bill Number
- S. 2668
- Origin Chamber
- Senate
- Congress
- 119th Congress, Session 1
- Policy Area
- Housing and Community Development
- Status
- Introduced
- Latest Action
- 2025-08-01: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
- Last Updated
- 2025-12-05T21:59:28Z
AI-Generated Summary
Purpose
The Housing Oversight and Mitigating Exploitation Act of 2025 (HOME Act of 2025) aims to protect consumers from excessive price increases in residential rentals and single-family home sales during periods of housing shortages or crises. It seeks to prevent exploitation by landlords, sellers, and investors, promote fair housing markets, and address related issues like market manipulation and unfair practices.
Key Provisions
- Prohibition on Unconscionable Pricing (Section 3): During an "affordable housing crisis period" declared by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), it is illegal to rent or sell single-family homes (1-4 unit residences, excluding condos or co-ops) at prices deemed "unconscionably excessive" that exploit the crisis. The crisis declaration considers factors like mortgage rates, median home/rent prices, household incomes, and disaster declarations. The prohibition lasts up to 30 days (renewable) and can start 1 week early if a crisis is foreseeable. Violations are assessed based on factors like price hikes compared to pre-crisis benchmarks or local averages; an affirmative defense exists if increases reflect legitimate added costs or risks. Enforcement is by HUD (similar to Federal Trade Commission powers for unfair practices), with states able to sue for injunctions, penalties, and consumer relief. Penalties fund affordable housing programs via the Housing Trust Fund. The law does not apply to futures markets or preempt state laws.
- HUD Investigation and Report on Housing Prices (Section 4): HUD must investigate potential price manipulation through reduced housing supply, investor actions (e.g., mergers), or gouging. A report due within 270 days of enactment includes a long-term strategy to address market manipulation (considering race, gender, and socioeconomic data) and analysis of non-occupant investors' effects on underserved communities. $1 million is authorized for fiscal year 2024.
- Housing Monitoring and Enforcement Unit (Section 5): HUD establishes a dedicated unit to collect and analyze rental, single-family sales, and investor-owned housing data. Duties include detecting market manipulation, unfair competition, or false reporting (using demographic data); monitoring trends; assessing infrastructure concentration; and securing data-sharing with states and agencies.
- Investigations of Excessive Housing Purchases (Section 6): HUD monitors single-family home buys in local markets. If one buyer (including institutional investors) acquires over 5% of available homes in 3 years, or investors collectively buy over 25% in 1 year, HUD investigates for gouging, manipulation, or practices displacing homeowners.
- Identification of Unfair Screening Practices (Section 7): HUD, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (CFPB) jointly collect data on rental screening issues (e.g., background checks, algorithms, income source biases, adverse action notices). They submit annual reports to Congress.
- Limits on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (Section 8): Amends the Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act to require HUD's Director to set standards for these entities' multifamily mortgage purchases, ensuring basic tenant protections and preventing sharp rent hikes.
- Review of Anti-Competitive Behaviors (Section 9): The Attorney General and FTC jointly review issues like information sharing in rental and single-family markets, reporting findings to Congress within 1 year.
Significant Changes to Existing Law
- Introduces a new federal prohibition on crisis-related housing price gouging, with HUD gaining FTC-like enforcement powers, which previously focused more on consumer protection in other sectors.
- Creates a permanent HUD monitoring unit and mandates specific investigations/triggers for investor activity, expanding HUD's role beyond traditional housing assistance.
- Amends the 1992 Federal Housing Enterprises Act to impose new regulatory standards on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for multifamily investments, shifting from oversight to proactive renter safeguards.
- Adds joint federal reporting requirements on screening and anti-competitive practices, building on but not replacing existing FTC/CFPB consumer laws.
- Directs penalty funds to the Housing Trust Fund, linking enforcement to affordable housing preservation without altering the fund's core structure.
Potential Impacts
- Government Agencies: Increases workload for HUD (new unit, investigations, declarations, reports), FTC, CFPB, and Attorney General, requiring coordination and resources. States gain complementary enforcement tools but face limits during federal actions.
- Citizens: Tenants and homebuyers may see reduced exploitative pricing during crises, improved access via fairer screening, and more affordable housing stock from penalty funds. Low-income, homeless, and underserved communities (tracked by demographics) could benefit most from preserved supply.
- International Relations: No direct impacts; the bill focuses on domestic U.S. housing markets, including territories.
Main Stakeholders Affected
- Consumers/Tenants/Homebuyers: Primary beneficiaries through protections against gouging and unfair practices, especially low- and moderate-income households.
- Landlords, Sellers, and Property Managers: Face restrictions on pricing, potential investigations, and requirements for fair screening; must justify increases.
- Institutional Investors and Developers: Subject to purchase monitoring, merger reviews, and limits on market dominance; non-occupant investors scrutinized for impacts on communities.
- Government Entities: HUD (expanded duties), state attorneys general (enforcement role), Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac (investment constraints), and FTC/CFPB (joint programs).
- Underserved Communities: Explicitly considered in data analysis, reports, and strategies, addressing disparities by race, gender, and socioeconomic status.
Notable Legal, Constitutional, or Political Implications
- Legal: Empowers federal and state civil enforcement with penalties and injunctions, but includes defenses and non-preemption of state laws to avoid conflicts. Exempts certain data collection from the Paperwork Reduction Act for efficiency. Potential challenges could arise over "unconscionable" pricing definitions, which rely on subjective factors, risking vagueness claims.
- Constitutional: May raise due process concerns if crisis declarations or investigations limit property rights without clear standards, though affirmative defenses and advance notice mitigate this. No direct First Amendment issues, but monitoring could scrutinize business communications.
- Political: Represents a regulatory expansion into private housing markets, potentially sparking debates on federal overreach versus consumer protection. By tying enforcement to affordable housing funds and demographic equity, it aligns with broader social policy goals, but could face opposition from real estate interests over investor restrictions and market interventions.
This summary was generated by AI and may contain inaccuracies. Refer to the official source document for the authoritative text.
Sponsor
Cosponsors (1)
Recent Actions
- 2025-08-01: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
- 2025-08-01: Introduced in Senate
Bill Versions
- Housing Oversight and Mitigating Exploitation Act of 2025 — issued 2025-08-01 — PDF (16 pages)