The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act is back on track after key lawmakers in the House and Senate reached agreement this week.
The text of the revised legislation was released Tuesday and contains most of the House-passed housing language, including the its version of a provision to restrict large institutional investors from buying single-family homes, Politico reported.
Six Senate bills stripped from the House-passed package also were added back onto the bill with “meaningful changes” to address House concerns, according to a note the Senate Banking Committee circulated with the bill text.
The bill limits how many single-family homes major investors can buy is poised to be signed into law before the end of the month, CNBC said.
The bill is focused on increasing the supply of homes and it would not include a controversial provision requiring major investors to sell any housing units they build within seven years, but it would cap the number of single-family homes they could buy at 350.
Hopes For House Action Next Week
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said a vote in the Senate is possible this week and he said he hoped the House could take up the bill when it returns next week.
Previous versions of the bill have cleared the House with strong support, meaning the House could use an expedited process to get the legislation done.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who has helped helm the bill as the top Democrat on the Senate committee overseeing housing, said the legislation is important not only because of the focus on affordability, but what it means for how Congress handles private equity.
“Never before has Congress put any restriction on the ability of private equity to move into whatever industry they want, buy up whatever they want and destroy whatever they want,” she told CNBC. “This bill is historic because it puts a big fat ‘no’ right in front of private equity’s growth as it tries to mow through our neighborhoods.”
