Merkley's bill taxes hedge funds $5,000 per home to force them out of housing market
🏘️Housing🏢Legislative Process
Sen. Jeff Merkley and Rep. 
Adam Smith introduced the HOPE for Homeownership Act in the 119th Congress. The bill uses the tax code to push hedge funds out of the single-family housing market, rather than a direct ownership ban.
The bill's tax mechanism works in three ways: a 15% excise tax on any new hedge fund purchase of a single-family home; elimination of mortgage interest and depreciation deductions for these holdings; and a $5,000 annual per-home penalty for funds that fail to sell at least 10% of their inventory each year over a decade.
Institutional investors — defined as entities owning 100 or more single-family homes — owned about 574,000 homes as of 2022, according to Federal Reserve research. That is roughly 3.8% of the 15.1 million single-unit rental properties in the U.S. — a number that critics say sounds small but is concentrated in specific metros.
Financial analysts at MetLife Investment Management projected that institutional investors could control 40% of all single-family rental homes by 2030 if current trends continue. This forecast is the core justification for legislative urgency among bill supporters.
The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis found that institutional investor purchases increase the price-to-income ratio in the bottom price tier — exactly the entry-level homes that first-time buyers pursue. This evidence connects Wall Street buying to narrowed pathways to homeownership for working families.
The bill is primarily a Democratic effort, though bipartisan rhetorical support exists. Even Trump has expressed interest in restricting Wall Street home purchases. Rep. 
Josh Riley (D-NY) and Rep. Pat Harrigan (R-NC) introduced the Families First Housing Act, a separate bipartisan bill giving families a 180-day first-look window on federally connected homes.
The HOPE for Homeownership Act's fate depends on whether Republican leadership brings it to a vote in a Congress where tax policy changes require negotiating with the majority. As of early 2026, the bill lacks the votes to advance on its own, making any path forward dependent on bipartisan coalition-building.
🏘️Housing🏢Legislative Process
People, bills, and sources
Jeff Merkley
U.S. Senator (D-OR), lead sponsor
Adam Smith
U.S. Representative (D-WA-09), House sponsor
Josh Riley
U.S. Representative (D-NY-19), bipartisan bill sponsor
Pat Harrigan
U.S. Representative (R-NC-10), bipartisan bill sponsor
Donald Trump
President of the United States
What you can do
1
civic action
Contact your representative and senators to support legislation limiting Wall Street home buying
The HOPE for Homeownership Act and the Families First Housing Act need both Democratic and Republican support to advance. If you support limits on institutional home buying, contacting your House member and both senators — especially if they are Republican — is the most impactful civic action.
Hi, my name is [name] and I'm a constituent from [city/state]. I'm calling about legislation to restrict hedge fund purchases of single-family homes. I'd like [Representative/Senator name] to support the HOPE for Homeownership Act or the Families First Housing Act. Wall Street investors bought hundreds of thousands of homes that working families could have bought.
2
research
Research how many single-family homes institutional investors own in your metro area
The Center for American Progress and other organizations have published metro-level data on institutional investor home ownership. Understanding the local scale of the problem helps make the case to local elected officials and builds support for state-level restrictions where federal action stalls.
3
civic action
Engage your city council on local ordinances restricting investor purchases
Several cities have passed or are considering local first-look ordinances that give owner-occupant buyers a window before investors can bid on homes. Local governments can act faster than Congress and create pressure for federal legislation.