II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4620 

To modify the premerger notification requirements under the Clayton Act 

with respect to certain acquisitions of residential property, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 20, 2024 

Ms. KLOBUCHAR (for herself, Mr. BROWN, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. MERKLEY, Ms. 

WARREN, Ms. SMITH, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, and Mr. 

WYDEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To modify the premerger notification requirements under 

the Clayton Act with respect to certain acquisitions of 

residential property, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Housing Acquisitions 

5 Review and Transparency Act’’ or the ‘‘HART Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 


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•S 4620 IS

1 (1) RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY.—The term ‘‘resi2 dential property’’— 

3 (A) means property that is zoned or in4 tended to be used as a dwelling for individuals 

5 or households, including multifamily housing, 

6 condominiums, manufactured homes, or single7 family homes; and 

8 (B) does not include any place of short9 term lodging. 

10 (2) INVESTMENT RENTAL PROPERTY.—The 

11 term ‘‘investment rental property’’ means real prop12 erty that— 

13 (A) will not be rented to an entity, includ14 ing any entity of the acquiring person, except 

15 for the sole purpose of maintaining, managing, 

16 or supervising the operation of the real prop17 erty; and 

18 (B) will be held solely for rental or invest19 ment purposes. 

20 (3) PLACE OF SHORT-TERM LODGING.—The 

21 term ‘‘place of short-term lodging’’ means a hotel, 

22 motel, inn, short-term rental, or other place of lodg23 ing that advertises at a price that is a nightly, hour24 ly, or weekly rate. 


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•S 4620 IS

1 SEC. 3. HOUSING TRANSACTIONS REPORTABLE. 

2 (a) SINGLE ACQUISITION.—Section 7A(a) of the 

3 Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 18a(a)) is amended by adding at 

4 the end the following: ‘‘For purposes of this subsection, 

5 all acquisitions of residential property (as defined in sec6 tion 2 of the HART Act) by any person within a single 

7 calendar year shall be deemed to be a single acquisition 

8 and notification pursuant to this subsection shall be filed 

9 by the acquiring person upon acquiring the property that 

10 brings such single acquisition within any requirement de11 scribed in paragraph (2) when aggregated with all other 

12 prior acquisitions of residential property by the person in 

13 that calendar year.’’ 

14 (b) EXEMPTION.—Section 7A(c)(1) of the Clayton 

15 Act (15 U.S.C. 18a(c)(1)) is amended by inserting ‘‘, un16 less the transaction includes residential property or invest17 ment rental property (as defined in section 2 of the HART 

18 Act), including in the form of a real estate investment 

19 trust, that is not solely intended for the personal use of 

20 an individual.’’ 

21 (c) CODE OF FEDERAL REGULATIONS.—The Federal 

22 Trade Commission, with the concurrence of the Assistant 

23 Attorney General in charge of the Antitrust Division of 

24 the Department of Justice and by rule, in accordance with 

25 section 553 of title 5, United States Code, shall amend 

26 part 802 of title 16, Code of Federal Regulations to conVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:51 Aug 07, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4620.IS S4620

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•S 4620 IS

1 form with the amendments to section 7A(a) of the Clayton 

2 Act (15 U.S.C. 18(a)) made by this Act. 

3 (d) RULEMAKING.—The Federal Trade Commission, 

4 with the concurrence of the Assistant Attorney General 

5 in charge of the Antitrust Division of the Department of 

6 Justice and by rule, in accordance with section 553 of title 

7 5, United States Code, shall issue rules relating to the 

8 form and documentary material and information relevant 

9 to any acquisition or aggregated acquisitions of residential 

10 property is necessary and appropriate under section 7A(a) 

11 of the Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 18a(a)), as amended by 

12 subsection (a), to enable the Federal Trade Commission 

13 and the Assistant Attorney General to determine whether 

14 such acquisition or aggregated acquisitions may violate the 

15 antitrust laws, as defined in subsection (a) of the first sec16 tion of the Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 12). 

Æ 


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