HB864: HB864 End Corporate Ownership of Georgia Homes Act; enact

Georgia law currently does not require corporations to disclose how many single-family homes they own. This bill, called the "End Corporate Ownership of Georgia Homes Act," would add a new article to the state's property law (O.C.G.A. Chapter 5 of Title 44) requiring corporations, including real estate investment trusts and other entities that own more than 20 single-family homes, to file an annual report with the state auditor listing every home they own by county, address, purchase price, assessed value, and ownership interest. The Department of Community Affairs would build a public online portal listing each reporting corporation and how many homes it owns per county, updated every year. Starting in 2026, corporations would have to shrink their home holdings on a fixed schedule, down to 20 percent of their 2025 total by the end of 2029, and to zero by the end of 2030. Owning more homes than allowed, or any homes after 2030, would trigger a $750,000 fine per excess home. The law would take effect July 1, 2025.

• Requires corporations owning any interest in a single-family home to file a detailed annual report with the state auditor starting December 31, 2025.
• Directs the state auditor to share those reports with the commissioner of revenue and the Department of Community Affairs.
• Creates a public online portal run by the Department of Community Affairs listing each reporting corporation's home count by county, updated yearly by March 31.
• Sets a declining ownership schedule requiring corporations to reduce their home holdings to 80%, 60%, 40%, and then 20% of their 2025 total by the end of 2026 through 2029.
• Imposes a $750,000 fine per excess home for corporations that exceed the allowed ownership limits, and the same fine per home owned after December 31, 2030.
• Exempts nonprofit-filing LLCs, certain tax-exempt entities, and businesses solely engaged in building or rehabbing homes from the definition of covered corporations.

Corporations that own single-family homes in Georgia, including real estate investment trusts and large-scale institutional landlords, are directly affected. The state auditor, the Department of Revenue, and the Department of Community Affairs would take on new reporting and portal duties, and homebuyers or renters could feel effects if corporate ownership patterns shift.

If enacted, large corporate owners of Georgia houses would face new public disclosure requirements and a hard deadline to sell most of their single-family homes by 2030, potentially changing who owns rental housing across the state and putting more homes back on the market for individual buyers.

• Section 1 names the law the 'End Corporate Ownership of Georgia Homes Act.'
• New Code Section 44-5-50 defines 'corporation' broadly, covering entities subject to the corporate net worth tax, REITs, and any entity owning more than 20 single-family homes, with exceptions for nonprofits and pure construction/rehab businesses.
• New Code Section 44-5-51 requires an initial report by December 31, 2025 and annual reports thereafter listing each home's location, price, assessed value, and ownership interest.
• New Code Section 44-5-52 requires the Department of Community Affairs to create and annually update a public portal listing each corporation's home holdings by county.
• New Code Section 44-5-53 sets a phased ownership cap dropping from 80% of a corporation's 2025 holdings (by end of 2026) to 20% (by end of 2029), then a full ban after 2030.
• Violations of the ownership caps carry a $750,000 fine per excess home, and any home still owned after December 31, 2030 carries the same $750,000 fine.
• Section 3 sets the effective date as July 1, 2025.

1. 2025-03-28House Second Readers (House)
2. 2025-03-27House First Readers (House)
3. 2025-03-25House Hopper (House)

• Gabriel Sanchez (D, HD-042)Primary sponsor
• Rhonda Taylor (D, HD-092)
• Spencer Frye (D, HD-122)
• El-Mahdi Holly (D, HD-116)
• Terry Cummings (D, HD-039)
• Mekyah McQueen (D, HD-061)

• corporate home ownership
• housing affordability
• real estate investment trusts
• property reporting
• single-family homes