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<bill bill-stage="Introduced-in-Senate" dms-id="A1" public-private="public" slc-id="S1-LIP26233-933-3W-2P0"><metadata xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">
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<dc:title>119 S3937 IS: Homes for American Families Act</dc:title>
<dc:publisher>U.S. Senate</dc:publisher>
<dc:date>2026-02-26</dc:date>
<dc:format>text/xml</dc:format>
<dc:language>EN</dc:language>
<dc:rights>Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.</dc:rights>
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<distribution-code display="yes">II</distribution-code><congress>119th CONGRESS</congress><session>2d Session</session><legis-num>S. 3937</legis-num><current-chamber>IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES</current-chamber><action><action-date date="20260226">February 26, 2026</action-date><action-desc><sponsor name-id="S399">Mr. Hawley</sponsor> (for himself and <cosponsor name-id="S322">Mr. Merkley</cosponsor>) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the <committee-name committee-id="SSJU00">Committee on the Judiciary</committee-name></action-desc></action><legis-type>A BILL</legis-type><official-title>To amend the Sherman Act to prohibit certain entities from purchasing residential real estate, and for other purposes.</official-title></form><legis-body><section id="S1" section-type="section-one"><enum>1.</enum><header>Short title</header><text display-inline="no-display-inline">This Act may be cited as the <quote><short-title>Homes for American Families Act</short-title></quote>.</text></section><section id="id36f917cc93d84982ac3acb5a8c887c65"><enum>2.</enum><header>Amendment</header><subsection commented="no" display-inline="no-display-inline" id="id0e6dffce831341f3a4e45e43ca352133"><enum>(a)</enum><header display-inline="yes-display-inline">In general</header><text>The Sherman Act (<external-xref legal-doc="usc" parsable-cite="usc/15/1">15 U.S.C. 1 et seq.</external-xref>) is amended by adding at the end the following:</text><quoted-block style="OLC" display-inline="no-display-inline" id="id720219670aa64ebb8855607a33e4bc23"><section commented="no" display-inline="no-display-inline" section-type="subsequent-section" id="ide137999a1dab4306b27dac2e495cce16"><enum>9.</enum><header display-inline="yes-display-inline">Residential real estate contracts in restraint of trade</header><subsection id="id64e16c6ac340405488d1b328025ad357"><enum>(a)</enum><header>Definitions</header><text>In this section:</text><paragraph id="id6685bbe647714ee88c3ed24ffd266e43"><enum>(1)</enum><header>Covered entity</header><subparagraph commented="no" display-inline="no-display-inline" id="id53b14dd294aa47d2b100ad41cf8e0249"><enum>(A)</enum><header>In general</header><text display-inline="yes-display-inline">The term <term>covered entity</term> means—</text><clause id="id5d10f9f663144e1d8238665a598bf483"><enum>(i)</enum><text>real estate investment trust;</text></clause><clause id="id45b3da6de9bd4f168dd09bc8357d11a8"><enum>(ii)</enum><text>an insurance company; or</text></clause><clause id="id76b1d27f6e094271a87d9a83597230bb"><enum>(iii)</enum><text>an investment company or private fund—</text><subclause id="id56ada6cc101641fe80f635d6e7dd1944"><enum>(I)</enum><text>with assets under management of not less than $150,000,000; or</text></subclause><subclause id="idcdf561afb2464f3caca4b573803d4c54"><enum>(II)</enum><text>that is directly or indirectly owned or controlled by a person that directly or indirectly owns or controls 1 or more investment companies or private funds with total assets under management of not less than $150,000,000.</text></subclause></clause></subparagraph><subparagraph id="id5ce5292ce6fd4b5c8328bfa8d5e38914"><enum>(B)</enum><header>Aggregation rules</header><text>For purposes of determining the assets under management of an entity under subparagraph (A)(iii), all persons which are treated as a single employer under subsection (b) or (c) of <external-xref legal-doc="usc" parsable-cite="usc/26/414">section 414</external-xref> of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 shall be treated as one entity. For purposes of this subsection, in applying section 414(b) of such Code, section 1563 of such Code shall be applied without regard to subsection (b)(2) thereof.</text></subparagraph></paragraph><paragraph id="idd68328865d9245b5bd4e316ed91e037d"><enum>(2)</enum><header>Insurance company</header><text>The term <term>insurance company</term> has the meaning given the term in section 2(a) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (<external-xref legal-doc="usc" parsable-cite="usc/15/80a-2">15 U.S.C. 80a–2(a)</external-xref>).</text></paragraph><paragraph id="id9910e486e9c44da2a6f3cbc3bf090df1"><enum>(3)</enum><header>Investment company</header><text>The term <term>investment company</term> has the meaning given the term in section 3 of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (<external-xref legal-doc="usc" parsable-cite="usc/15/80a-3">15 U.S.C. 80a–3</external-xref>).</text></paragraph><paragraph id="id8531479fe29e4850be9f602034295223"><enum>(4)</enum><header>Private fund</header><text>The term <term>private fund</term> means a corporation that would be considered an investment company under section 3 of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (<external-xref legal-doc="usc" parsable-cite="usc/15/80a-3">15 U.S.C. 80a–3</external-xref>) but for the application of paragraph (1) or (7) of subsection (c) of such section 3.</text></paragraph><paragraph id="id86819872273a494bb30f46c26935d914"><enum>(5)</enum><header>Real estate investment trust</header><text>The term <term>real estate investment trust</term> has the meaning given the term in <external-xref legal-doc="usc" parsable-cite="usc/26/856">section 856</external-xref> of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.</text></paragraph><paragraph id="ida92c7f1525e64adcbb109060927c0724"><enum>(6)</enum><header>Residential real estate</header><text>The term <term>residential real estate</term> means—</text><subparagraph id="id5a7ac2f576304e429c94ecf586ef0e72"><enum>(A)</enum><text>a single-family home;</text></subparagraph><subparagraph id="id66424324860340d0999b36dcb21d37a6"><enum>(B)</enum><text>a condominium;</text></subparagraph><subparagraph id="idd78f7eec79e74ca9b0fa672bc633048f"><enum>(C)</enum><text>a townhouse; and</text></subparagraph><subparagraph id="id20fb4afede724ad7803bccfd09193265"><enum>(D)</enum><text>any land that has been zoned by a local government for the development of a property described in subparagraphs (A) through (C).</text></subparagraph></paragraph></subsection><subsection id="idbba99cfbe2cc4d999c3df8100e9dcd28"><enum>(b)</enum><header>Contracts in restraint of trade</header><paragraph id="id2e7764efa1d84c57b0398934715109d7"><enum>(1)</enum><header>In general</header><text>Except as provided in paragraph (2), any purchase by a covered entity of residential real estate shall be deemed a contract in restraint of trade in violation of section 1, except that the violation shall be civil only and no criminal penalty under that section, including a term of imprisonment, shall apply.</text></paragraph><paragraph id="id950f3c771d754b228dffdcf9efe4b73f"><enum>(2)</enum><header>Exceptions</header><text>Paragraph (1) shall not apply to a homebuilder, developer, or redeveloper if the units of residential real estate are being or have been constructed for ownership by a person or entity that is not prohibited from purchasing residential real estate under this subsection.</text></paragraph><paragraph id="id3e473755505d41d087ecde88b58b2a4a"><enum>(3)</enum><header>Application</header><text>Paragraph (1) shall only apply to the purchase of residential real estate on or after the date of enactment of this section.</text></paragraph></subsection><subsection id="idfb501134a45c43d5b1bbf3f03d424e1e"><enum>(c)</enum><header>Prioritized antitrust scrutiny and enforcement</header><text>The Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice shall prioritize the review of purchases of residential real estate by a covered entity for anti-competitive effects and prioritize enforcement of antitrust laws, as appropriate, against coordinated vacancy, pricing strategies, and other anticompetitive practices by covered entities in local residential real estate markets.</text></subsection></section><after-quoted-block>.</after-quoted-block></quoted-block></subsection><subsection commented="no" display-inline="no-display-inline" id="id352806192d294cb2a5b26c177bd7f005"><enum>(b)</enum><header>Effective date</header><text>This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall take effect on the date that is 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act.</text></subsection></section></legis-body></bill>

