White House Issues Executive Order on Acquisition of Single-Family Homes by Institutional Investors

President Trump issued an Executive Order on January 20, 2026, entitled “Stopping Wall Street from Competing with Main Street Homebuyers” (the “Order”), directing federal agencies to take steps to limit the purchase of single-family homes by “large institutional investors” (“LIIs”)¹. The Order follows a January 7, 2026 social media post by President Trump that announced plans to undertake such action². As detailed below, the Order calls for governmental agencies to review their policies and institute regulations to promote the ownership of single-family homes by individuals and calls for the codification of such policies through legislative means but does not provide specific details as to the scope of the restrictions on the single-family market that may be enacted.

While the Order and the President’s statements are targeted towards single-family rental property owners and operators, the Order could have potentially wide-reaching consequences for the single-family housing market if the regulations are broadly defined or implemented. Yet the Order does not identify the legal authority by which the departments and agencies involved may restrict LIIs from purchasing single-family homes. To the extent that regulations promulgated pursuant to the Order impose adverse effects on the business operations of LIIs, it is likely that there may be challenges to those regulations under the Administrative Procedure Act.

Agency Guidelines

The Order gives the Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, thirty (30) days to develop definitions for what constitutes both a “large institutional investor” and a “single-family home” for use in the guidelines and regulations. Until these terms are defined, the potential scope and impact of such regulations on the single-family housing market cannot be fully determined.

The Order mandates the issuance of guidance within sixty (60) days by the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”), the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, the Administrator of General Services and the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (the “Agencies”) to prevent agencies and Government-sponsored enterprises from:

• “providing for, approving, insuring, guaranteeing, securitizing, or facilitating the Lan individual owner-occupant”; or
• disposing of Federal assets in a manner that transfers such homes to such investors.

The Order does not specify that the regulations would only apply directly to the Agencies, and regulations could also apply to any government-sponsored entities (the “GSEs”), potentially impacting the ability of the GSEs to provide financing to LIIs and to sell foreclosed single-family homes to LIIs.

The Order also asks the Agencies to promote sales to individuals, including through anti-circumvention provisions, first-look policies, and disclosure requirements. It is unclear at this time what regulations may be implemented, but it is likely that the regulations will create further oversight, disclosure and compliance requirements for LIIs in connection with the acquisition, ownership and disposition of single-family homes. Any rules, regulations, legislation or other governmental actions as aresult of the Order may be contested and subject to litigation. 

Importantly, the Order allows for “appropriate, narrowly tailored exceptions” with respect to the restrictions to be set forth in these guidelines, both generally, as deemed appropriate by the applicable agency, and expressly for of build-to-rent properties that are, at all stages of conception, intended for inclusion in rental communities.

Additionally, the Order calls for increased scrutiny by the Attorney General and the Federal Trade Commission (the “FTC”) into potential antitrust violations by LIIs, particularly coordinated vacancy and pricing strategies, and LIIs making “substantial” acquisitions (including in series) of single-family homes. It is unclear what will constitute a “substantial” acquisition, whether the scrutiny would apply to sales of single-family homes currently owned by LIIs or what additional regulatory compliance may be required in connection with the acquisition or sale of single-family homes by LIIs. Last year, the FTC issued a request for public comment on potential FTC orders that seek to understand how large-scale single-family rental owner operators have affected home prices and rents across the single-family market, but no findings or further information have been provided by the FTC relating to this request.³

The Secretary of HUD is also directed to require disclosure of ownership and control of owners and managing agents of single-family home rentals participating in Federal housing assistance programs to identify LIIs in the market. The single-family rental market currently provides affordable housing to individuals receiving Section 8 housing benefits, and it is unclear how any future regulations by HUD may impact the ability of LIIs to provide affordable single-family rental homes to individuals.

Additional Measures and Future Legislation

Apart from the mandated guidelines, the Order requires relevant agencies to review, revise and enforce existing rules and guidelines to conform to the policies set forth in the order. The Order directs the Secretary of the Treasury to perform a general review to consider revisions of rules and guidance relating to acquisition and holding of single-family homes by LIIs. The Order also calls for future legislation to codify the Trump Administration’s overarching policy on single-family home ownership by LIIs; however, the Order provides no further details on what that legislation may specifically entail.

Impacts and the Potential for Broad Reaching Consequences

While the social media post and the Order may have been positioned to target the single family rental industry, other asset classes related to single-family homes could also be impacted depending on how any future rulemaking or legislation that stems from the Order is drafted. If broadly defined, any regulations or legislation could impact a wide-ranging set of institutions and residential real estate markets such as homebuilders, institutions rehabilitating or improving properties for sale to consumers, e-buyers purchasing homes from consumers for further sale, investors in short-term rentals, banks, servicers or private credit institutions holding real estate owned properties acquired through foreclosure, consumers buying homes through entities for estate and tax planning purposes and companies acting as qualified intermediaries for 1031 exchanges, among potentially others.  

In each of the above-described circumstances, there is uncertainty as to whether those institutions will be included in the definition of LII or if the assets they hold will be included in the definition of “single-family home”. Will other exceptions be included to exempt such activities from the scope of any proposed rulemaking or legislation? Many of these examples could impact businesses that generally have a positive impact on housing affordability and availability. Accordingly, any final rulemaking or legislation should be as narrowly tailored as possible to avoid any outcomes that could exacerbate the policy problem the Order was intended to address, by making parts of the housing market more expensive and out of reach for American households. If the rules, regulations and legislation are overly broad, it could have a chilling effect on innovation and investment in the single-family housing market, impairing the ability of LIIs to create new housing stock and offer affordable housing (whether through ownership or rentals) to individuals.   

Future Developments

While the Order calls for many parts of the government to begin taking steps toward stricter regulation of the single-family rental market, the Order primarily seeks to initiate the rulemaking process. The impact of any resulting guidelines, regulations, and legislation is currently unclear, as significant discretion remains regarding the scope of any rules. Any governmental actions as a result of the Order may be contested and subject to litigation, which could further delay or prevent the implementation of any rules, regulations or legislation, including potentially pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act. In addition, the Order may inspire legislation or rulemaking at the state or local level, leading to questions about preemption, costs of compliance and further chances for unintended consequences which may have a negative impact on the availability and cost of single-family housing.