Skinner Bill Would Bar Hedge Funds from Snatching Up Single-Family Homes

Last week California State Senator Nancy Skinner introduced SB 1212, which prohibit an investment entity from purchasing, acquiring, or leasing a single-family home or duplex.

“My bill would prohibit these large hedge funds and large investment type firms from being able to purchase single-family homes or duplexes,” Senator Nancy Skinner told the Vanguard in a phone interview on Thursday.

She noted it wouldn’t cut them out of other parts of the residential market.

Skinner explained that California since the Great Recession has seen the number of owner-occupied homes drop to the lowest level in decades.

“We’re at the lowest number,” she said.  “What with the hedge funds and other large investment firms having now decided to look at single-family homes as an asset class, they have the capability because they can pay in cash because they can outbid to outcompete a family who’s trying to buy a home.”

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