Lawmaker seeking limit on housing purchases

National corporations such as American Homes 4 Rent and Vinebrook Homes Trust have been buying thou- sands of houses across Ohio and renting them out.

One Ohio lawmaker has introduced legislation to make sure individual home- owners get the first chance to buy these houses.

In Columbus, Cincin- nati and Cleveland investors spent nearly $1 billion buying about 17% of homes sold between July and September of 2021, according to an analysis by the realty company Redfin.

These purchases “makes good business sense,” Sen. Bill Blessing, R-colerain Township, said. Companies can flip houses in hot markets or charge more in rent than they pay in mortgages. But those business positives have been “devastating to the health of our nation.”

Lower-income buyers are getting shoved out of the market while tenants find themselves facing skyrocketing rents and/or evictions.

“Though renting makes sense for many Ohioans, becoming a nation, and state, of renters, is an odious prop- osition,” Blessing said.

That’s why he has intro- duced a bill to restrict how investors buy houses in Ohio.

His legislation, modeled after California’s Senate Bill 1079, would give current tenants, owner-occupants and housing nonprofits tiered rights of first refusal when it comes to bidding on foreclosed properties sold at auction.

Corporate investors would have to wait 45 days before making an offer.

“Obviously, you want to be pro free market,” Blessing said. “But in some cases, you want to encourage homeowners to have a chance instead of Wall Street.”

About 5 million American families lost their homes to foreclosure during the Great Recession. But where individuals saw devastation, investment firms saw opportunity.

Wall Street firms such as JP Morgan Chase bought foreclosed single-family homes in bulk and now own about $60 billion worth of real estate across the country.