HB 864: End Corporate Ownership of Georgia Homes Act; enact

Georgia law does not currently require companies to disclose how many houses they own or limit how many they can hold. House Bill 864, called the End Corporate Ownership of Georgia Homes Act, would change that by adding a new article to Georgia's property law (O.C.G.A. Title 44, Chapter 5). Corporations, including real estate investment trusts and other business entities that own more than 20 single-family homes, would have to file an annual report with the state auditor listing every home they have an interest in, its address, purchase price, and assessed value. The bill also phases in strict ownership limits. Starting from a corporation's July 1, 2025 home count, it would have to sell down to 80 percent of that number by the end of 2026, 60 percent by 2027, 40 percent by 2028, and 20 percent by 2029. Owning more than allowed, or owning any home at all after December 31, 2030, would trigger a $750,000 fine per excess home. The law would take effect July 1, 2025, and the Department of Community Affairs would run a public online portal listing each reporting corporation's holdings by county.

• Requires corporations owning single-family homes to file a report with the state auditor by December 31, 2025, listing each property's address, purchase price, assessed value, and ownership interest.
• Requires those corporations to file an updated report every year after 2026, including any homes sold since the last report.
• Directs the Department of Community Affairs to build and update a public portal each March showing how many homes each reporting corporation owns per county.
• Phases down how many single-family homes a corporation may own, cutting allowed holdings to 80 percent, 60 percent, 40 percent, and then 20 percent of its 2025 total over four years.
• Imposes a $750,000 fine per home owned above the allowed limit, and a $750,000 fine per home still owned after December 31, 2030.
• Defines which entities count as a 'corporation' under the bill, excluding nonprofits, certain small entities, and builders solely engaged in constructing or rehabbing homes.

Corporations, real estate investment trusts, and other business entities that own single-family homes in Georgia, particularly large-scale institutional landlords; the state auditor and the Department of Community Affairs, which gain new reporting and oversight duties; and indirectly, tenants and prospective homebuyers in homes owned by these corporations.

If enacted, large corporate landlords would have to publicly disclose their Georgia home holdings and gradually sell most of them off or face multimillion-dollar fines, a change that could shift large numbers of single-family homes from corporate ownership toward individual buyers or other owners over the next several years.

• Section 1 names the bill the 'End Corporate Ownership of Georgia Homes Act.'
• New Code Section 44-5-50 defines 'corporation,' 'housing ownership factor,' 'interest,' 'real estate investment trust,' and 'single-family dwelling,' and excludes nonprofits and pure homebuilders.
• New Code Section 44-5-51 requires an initial report to the state auditor by December 31, 2025, and annual follow-up reports thereafter, shared with the Department of Revenue and the Department of Community Affairs.
• New Code Section 44-5-52 requires the Department of Community Affairs to create and annually update, by March 31, a public portal listing each corporation's per-county property counts.
• New Code Section 44-5-53 sets a phase-down schedule (80%, 60%, 40%, 20% of the 2025 baseline by 2026-2029) and imposes a $750,000 fine per excess home, plus a $750,000 fine per home still owned after December 31, 2030.
• Section 3 sets the effective date as July 1, 2025.

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

• Gabriel Sanchez (D, HD-042)Patrocinador principal
• 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 requirements