White House Executive Order on SFR
January 27, 2026
On January 20, the White House issued an executive order (“EO” ) entitled “Stopping Wall Street from Competing with Main Street Homebuyers” that seeks to limit or end government involvement or support of single-family home rentals (SFR).
Why it matters: As we previously noted, President Trump posted his opposition to institutional investors owning single-family homes, noting that the practice exacerbates existing home ownership limitations and affordability. While Trump called for legislation, the EO also outlines some of the limited ways regulators may seek to constrain corporate SFR.
The bottom line: Even with the order, the President’s ability to unilaterally restrict SFR through regulation is at best unclear and likely limited without further congressional action. Most of the impact will come in the form of messaging or giving a bipartisan boost to state legislation looking to limit SFR.
Go deeper: The EO directs several cabinet officers to take specific actions.
- Definition: The Treasury Secretary has 30 days to develop regulatory definitions of “large institutional investor” and “single-family home”.
- Restriction on Sale by Federal Government: Directs leadership of departments of Ag, HUD, VA, GSA, and FHFA to issue guidance to:
- Prevent agencies from providing for, approving, insuring, guaranteeing, securitizing, or facilitating the acquisition by a large institutional investor of a single-family home that could otherwise be purchased by an individual owner-occupant; or
- Prevent disposing of Federal assets in a manner that transfers a single-family home to a large institutional investor; and
- Promote sales to individual owner-occupants, including through anti-circumvention provisions, first-look policies, and disclosure requirements.
- The guidance should include an exception for build-to-rent properties.
- Antitrust Review: The Attorney General and the Federal Trade Commission are directed to review large SFR acquisitions and prioritize antitrust enforcement against coordinated vacancy and pricing controls by large institutional investors.
- Legislation: The White House is preparing legislation to codify the policy “so that large institutional investors do not acquire single-family homes that could otherwise be purchased by families.”
What they’re saying: Some rank and file Republicans remain skeptical of the administration’s effort on SFR. However, the more populist members of the GOP already introduced legislation.
- Rep. Mary Miller (R-IL) introduced the “American Family Housing Act,” framing it as aligned with President Trump’s executive order on limiting Wall Street competition with homebuyers.
- The bill would direct the SEC to restrict single-family home purchases by large institutional investors (>$100B AUM), include anti-evasion provisions, and take effect 100 days after enactment. It would apply only to future purchases and would not require divestment of existing holdings.
- Democratic legislation that predates the President’s order would limit tax deduction and depreciation for entities holding more than 1,000 single family homes.
What’s next: CREFC continues to monitor the situation. Contact Sairah Burki (sburki@crefc.org) and David McCarthy (dmccarthy@crefc.org) with questions.