Warnock Slams President Trump for Blocking Private-Equity Housing Ban
Senator Reverend Warnock slammed President Trump for refusing to sign the ROAD to Housing Act, which would have banned large corporations from mass purchasing single-family homes
Hours before the President was set to sign the legislation, he cancelled the signing ceremony, insisting that Congress pass his voter suppression legislation, the SAVE America Act
Private equity has rapidly spread through Georgia’s housing market, with more than one in four?single-family?rental homes in?metro?Atlanta owned by large corporations?
The now-stalled housing package includes provisions championed by Senator Warnock that will boost housing supply by cutting red tape, investing in local innovation, and reforming legacy housing programs
READ the one-pager on Warnock provisions in the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act
Washington, D.C. – RealEstateRama – Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA) slammed the President for blocking the bipartisan 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, which includes the Senator’s private equity housing ban. The legislation was overwhelmingly passed by the House and the Senate earlier this week. In a shocking turn of events, the President cancelled the signing ceremony for the legislation early this morning, claiming it needed to include the SAVE America Act, legislation that would disenfranchise potentially millions of Americans.
Corporate investors have suffocated metro-Atlanta’s housing market, with more than 1 in 4 single-family rental homes—over 70,000 properties—owned by large corporations. Corporate investors control more homes in metro-Atlanta than any other area in the country and have begun spreading to every corner of the state. Senator Warnock’s provision bans corporations that own more than 350 single-family homes from purchasing any additional single-family homes.
In addition to the ban on private equity, the 21st Century Road to Housing Act also includes provisions from Senator Warnock’s Appraisal Modernization Act, the only fair housing provision in the legislation, and several bills Senator Warnock has championed for years to reform rural housing programs, penalize local governments for failing to meet housing goals, incentivize local governments and banks to invest more in the construction of housing, and provide grants and forgivable loans to help homeowners repair and weatherize their properties.
Find the full remarks from the Senator HERE and below:
Senator Reverend Warnock (SRW): “18 months into Donald Trump’s second term, and life is worse for everybody except the ultra-wealthy. Ordinary people aren’t able to make this economy work, and today this president had an opportunity to do something for ordinary people, for working Americans, and instead he has managed—once again—to make the story about himself.
“I’m perturbed. I’m annoyed that instead of talking about housing, we’re standing here talking about Donald Trump. He is so obsessed with himself that he keeps tripping over himself, which is a deep problem, but it has serious implications for everyday people.
“Here he is on a day staged for him to take credit for legislation he did little to shape, he managed to make the story about what’s going on with Donald Trump. And so that’s a sad irony. The bill that he refused to sign today would have given a leg up to Americans who have been exploited by corporate landlords. Ordinary people looking to buy a home cannot compete with billionaires and trillionaires.
“The average age of somebody buying a first-time home is age 40. That’s something we could have begun to fix today. Still, more we need to do on top of this bill, but this would have been an excellent start. And once again, the President has muddied the waters. And so, I want to be very clear, because right now is one of the biggest times of the year to buy a home. So, here’s what is at stake for everyday people.
“If you are buying a home today, we had the opportunity to stop giant corporations from competing against your offer. The president refused to help you. If a house on your block is being sold, the president could have made sure that that home went to a family instead of some out of state corporate landlord, and once again the president refused to help you. If you are getting an appraisal for your home and you think that appraisal is too low and you want some recourse—we had language in this bill to address that, and the president refused to help you.
“My colleagues and I fought to protect the very people this president exploits every day. I’m proud of the bill that we delivered for the people of Georgia. The ROAD to Housing Act should have been a major win for everyday Americans, this bipartisan piece of legislation. I mean, Tim Scott and Elizabeth Warren walked into a bar. Sounds like the beginning of a bad joke—it wasn’t really a bar, but they came together—and we got this done.
“So, I would encourage those in the House to send the bill to the President. Now it’s on the Speaker of the House, it’s on the leadership of the House, to decide if they’re going to stand with the American people or are they going to stand with Donald Trump. Send him the bill and force him to decide! If you don’t send him the bill, that means you’re standing with him rather than the people in your own district. We know who Donald Trump is in a real sense. This is about who the rest of us are, and so we will continue to fight for this.
“The president has decided that the SAVE Act is what’s really important. Think about that. The SAVE Act, a voter suppression bill, the SAVE Act, which focuses on solving a problem that does not exist. He’s put that in front of a bill that’s looking to solve a problem that people on both sides of the aisle and every American knows is a real problem. If he were as focused on the housing of ordinary Americans as he is on renovating the house he temporarily occupies—fixing that house, tearing up that house, adding a ballroom to that house—while you’re trying to buy a house, while you’re trying to build a future for yourself and your family. He’s trying to hold on to power; the people I know in Georgia are just trying to hold on.
“Somebody ought to tell the President of the United States that he is a temporary resident of public housing. It’s not his house, and he ought to get focused on making sure that the American people can buy a house and can afford rent. He ought to think about us for a change.”
###
Title and affiliation are provided for identification purposes only. A pastor and social justice advocate, Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock was elected to the United States Senate in 2021 and reelected for a full term in 2022. The Senator serves on the Senate Agriculture, Banking, and Finance committees, as well as the Senate Aging Committee.?
