Rep. Mary Miller (R-IL) introduced legislation on Wednesday to help people in the country achieve the ‘American Dream’ of owning a home. Miller’s legislation proposes restrictions on large corporations, companies, and investors to prevent them from “crowding families out of homes.”
Miller’s “American Family Housing Act” calls to amend the “Investment Company Act of 1940 to prohibit certain large-scale companies from purchasing single-family residences.” The bill directs the Securities and Exchange Commission to limit the number of single-family homes that “large institutional investors” can buy so that ordinary working-class families can afford to purchase houses at reasonable prices. Miller’s objective with this legislation is to put “an end to Wall Street firms driving up prices and pushing American families out of the housing market.”
“Homeownership is the foundation of the American Dream,” said Miller. “But today, hardworking families are competing with massive Wall Street firms that are buying up single-family homes and pricing Americans out of their own communities.”
Miller’s “American Family Housing Act” comes on the heels of President Donald Trump’s executive order “Stopping Wall Street From Competing With Main Street Homebuyers,” issued on Jan. 20. Trump’s order also prioritized housing affordability for the everyday American over investment firms purchasing properties.
“Hardworking young families cannot effectively compete for starter homes with Wall Street firms and their vast resources,” read Trump’s directive. “Neighborhoods and communities once controlled by middle-class American families are now run by faraway corporate interests.”
“People live in homes, not corporations,” Trump said. “My Administration will take decisive action to stop Wall Street from treating America’s neighborhoods like a trading floor and empower American families to own their homes.”
Miller presented the numerous challenges people face when purchasing a home in the country today as justification for her bill in a press release on Wednesday.
“According to the National Association of Realtors, the average first-time homebuyer is now 40 years old, with first-time buyers making up just 21 percent of the market,” read Miller’s release. “A 2024 Government Accountability Office study estimated that institutional investors collectively own roughly 300,000 homes nationwide, with ownership heavily concentrated in metropolitan areas. In some cities in America, institutional investors own 25% of single-family rentals.”
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To offer a remedy to these challenges, Miller’s bill would restrict “large-scale” companies from purchasing “any single-family residence” and require the SEC to “monitor and enforce restrictions preventing large institutional investment firms from purchasing single-family homes.” Miller’s bill would apply such requirements only to future purchases and would be limited to corporations with “more than $100 billion in assets under management.” It would take effect 100 days after the bill’s approval to prevent sizable fluctuations and market destabilization.
“President Trump is right to confront this crisis, and my American Family Housing Act ensures homes are owned by families, not large institutional investors,” Miller said.