Stop Predatory Investing Act

Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) was joined by local leaders and the Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority to call for passage of his Stop Predatory Investing Act and tour a home previously owned by a large out-of-state investment company that the Port was able to rehabilitate. The Stop Predatory Investing Act would prohibit an investor who acquires 50 or more single-family rental homes from deducting interest or depreciation on those properties. Right now, two big investors own more than 12,000 homes in just three Ohio markets, and other large investors don’t report how many homes they own.

“In too many communities, big investors funded by Wall Street are buying up homes that could have gone to first-time homebuyers. So many families who have worked for years saving to buy a house end up getting out-bid over and over by outside investors, and they can’t afford to compete,” said Brown. “It’s why we introduced the Stop Predatory Investing Act – our bill fights back by striking right at the core of what makes this a profitable business venture for deep-pocketed investors: by taking away tax breaks they don’t need, we cut deep into their profit.”

Private equity and other Wall Street-backed outside investors are a growing problem in housing markets, driving up local housing prices and pushing home ownership further out of reach for many working families. In Cincinnati in 2021, investors bought 15% of homes and nearly 50% of homes in some communities, and a single company bought 29 homes on a single street. Large investors use technology and all-cash offers to outcompete individual buyers. And because investors often target the same types of affordable starter homes as first-time homebuyers, they push families out of the housing market.