House passes bill requiring out-of-state owners of large single-family portfolios to maintain in-state contacts

The House passed House Bill 399, a bill that requires nonresident owners of 25 or more single-family rental homes in Georgia to employ a local broker or real-estate agent and to designate at least one person in-state to receive tenant complaints. The bill passed following floor debate by a vote of 163 yeas and 4 nays.

Representative Oliver, sponsor of HB 399, told members the bill targets large out-of-state investors and hedge funds that have acquired significant shares of single-family housing stock, particularly in the Atlanta region. She said that two companies — Invitation Homes and Progress Residential — each own more than 10,000 homes and that seven entities together own about 51,000 single-family homes in Georgia. Representative Oliver said there are local districts where more than 50% of single-family homes are owned by out-of-state investors; she cited House District 84 as having 1,012 single-family homes with about 42.3% owned by out-of-state entities.

Why it matters: The sponsor said the measure improves local accountability and enforcement for tenants who need a reachable, in-state representative when landlords fail to respond to repair requests or safety concerns. Representatives and industry participants discussed enforcement and remedies, including expanded oversight by the Georgia Real Estate Commission.

Key points and scope: HB 399 applies only to single-family homes used as rentals and establishes a threshold of 25 properties owned by a nonresident owner to trigger the in-state representative requirement. The bill directs that the local representative may be a broker or real-estate agent; the sponsor said the provision closes a loophole where a nominal local representative could be located out-of-state. Representative Beth Camp noted during questioning that the bill gives the Georgia Real Estate Commission purview over property managers and license enforcement, which could place license discipline on managers who fail to meet duties.

Representative Oliver described the bill as a modest step to reassert local economic opportunity and tenant protection; she gave a personal example of multi-generation homeownership eroding as institutional investors acquire single-family properties. Members asked and the sponsor confirmed the bill does not change federal protections for service members under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act.

The House adopted the committee substitute and then passed the bill; the clerk reported yeas 163 and nays 4.