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Sponsors pitch tax and right-of-first-offer measures to curb large corporate purchases of single-family homes
Summary
Delegate Marlon Hampton (sponsor) and supporters said HB1428 would impose a single-family excise tax and create a 30-day exclusive first-offer window for individuals and small buyers to slow acquisitions by large investors; builders and landlord groups opposed, citing enforcement and market impacts.
Delegate Marlon Hampton presented House Bill 14 28, titled in the hearing materials as the Hedge Fund Control of Maryland Homes Act, which would impose a new excise tax and create a short “first offer” window intended to limit large corporate purchases of single-family homes in Maryland.
“We decided for efficiency sake to put the bills together,” Hampton said, summarizing prior proposals and saying the measure is intended to protect first-time homebuyers and middle-class families from large institutional purchasers. The sponsor described two central elements: a single-family residence excise tax (with higher rates for large investors) and a right-of-first-offer period of 30 days that would reserve the first opportunity to purchase for individuals, families, and small LLCs.
Proponents from tenant and tenant-advocacy organizations, including the Public Justice Center and Renters United Maryland, argued large corporate owners are more likely to raise rents, file evictions and reduce housing quality. Albert Turner of the Public Justice Center cited data in written testimony that corporate owners are more likely to evict, increase fees and use remote or automated management systems.
Builders and industry groups—Maryland Building Industry Association, Maryland Realtors and the Apartment and Office Building Association—testified in opposition. Robert Enton of MBIA highlighted steep proposed tax increases in the bill and warned the legislation would undermine development and the rental market. Lisa May of Maryland Realtors said the bill’s transfer tax and 30-day lockout could leave individual sellers with little bargaining power and large tax bills; she recommended narrower, targeted language focused on institutional investors.
Committee members asked about legal issues (equal-protection or commerce questions), whether the measure would deter production of rental housing, and how it would interact with other proposed disclosures of purchaser identity. Witnesses disagreed on the size of investor holdings in Maryland and whether the bill’s thresholds and definitions were administrable. No committee vote was taken at the hearing.
