I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 702 

To protect consumers from price gouging of residential rental and sale prices, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 1, 2023 

Mr. HORSFORD introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on the 

Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 

each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To protect consumers from price gouging of residential rental 

and sale prices, 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 Oversight and 

5 Mitigating Exploitation Act of 2023’’ or the ‘‘HOME Act 

6 of 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. UNCONSCIONABLE PRICING OF RESIDENTIAL 

2 RENTAL AND SALE PRICES DURING EMER3 GENCIES. 

4 (a) UNCONSCIONABLE PRICING.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful for any 

6 person to rent out a dwelling unit or sell any single7 family housing, in an area and during a period of a 

8 housing emergency covered by a proclamation issued 

9 under paragraph (2), at a price that— 

10 (A) is unconscionably excessive; and 

11 (B) indicates the lessor or seller is exploit12 ing the circumstances related to a housing 

13 emergency to increase prices unreasonably. 

14 (2) HOUSING EMERGENCY PROCLAMATION.— 

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—The President may 

16 issue a housing emergency proclamation for any 

17 area within the jurisdiction of the United 

18 States, during which the prohibition in para19 graph (1) shall apply, that includes the geo20 graphic area covered and the time period that 

21 such proclamation shall be in effect. 

22 (B) DURATION.—The proclamation— 

23 (i) may not apply for a period of more 

24 than 30 consecutive days, but may be re25 newed for such consecutive periods, each 


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1 not to exceed 30 days, as the President de2 termines appropriate; and 

3 (ii) may include a period of time not 

4 to exceed 1 week before a reasonably fore5 seeable emergency. 

6 (3) FACTORS CONSIDERED.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—In determining whether 

8 a person has violated paragraph (1), there shall 

9 be taken into account, among other factors, the 

10 aggravating factors described in subparagraph 

11 (B) and the mitigating factor described in sub12 paragraph (C). 

13 (B) AGGRAVATING FACTORS.—The aggra14 vating factors described in this subparagraph 

15 are the following: 

16 (i) Whether the amount charged by 

17 such person grossly exceeds the average 

18 price at which the housing unit was offered 

19 for rental or sale by such person during— 

20 (I) the 30-day period before the 

21 date on which the proclamation was 

22 issued; or 

23 (II) another appropriate bench24 mark period, as determined by the 

25 Administration. 


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1 (ii) Whether the amount charged by 

2 such person grossly exceeds the price at 

3 which the same or a similar housing unit 

4 was readily obtainable for rental or pur5 chase in the same area from other sellers 

6 during the energy emergency period. 

7 (C) MITIGATING FACTOR.—The mitigating 

8 factor described in this subparagraph is wheth9 er the quantity of any housing dwelling units 

10 such person made available for rental or sale in 

11 an area covered by the proclamation during the 

12 30-day period following the date on which the 

13 proclamation was issued increased over the 

14 quantity such person made available for rental 

15 or sale during the 30-day period before the date 

16 on which the proclamation was issued, taking 

17 into account any usual seasonal demand vari18 ation. 

19 (b) AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE.—It shall be an affirma20 tive defense in any civil action or administrative action to 

21 enforce subsection (a), with respect to the renting out or 

22 sale of housing by a person, that the increase in the rental 

23 or sale price of such housing reasonably reflects additional 

24 costs that were paid, incurred, or reasonably anticipated 

25 by such person, or reasonably reflects additional risks 


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1 taken by such person, to rent or sell such housing unit 

2 under the circumstances. 

3 (c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—This section may not 

4 be construed to cover a transaction on a futures market. 

5 (d) ENFORCEMENT.— 

6 (1) HUD.—The Secretary of Housing and 

7 Urban Development shall enforce violations of sub8 section (a) of this section— 

9 (A) in the same manner, by the same 

10 means, and with the same jurisdiction, powers, 

11 and duties as the Federal Trade Commission 

12 has under the Federal Trade Commission Act 

13 (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) with respect to violations 

14 of a rule defining an unfair or deceptive act or 

15 practice prescribed under section 18(a)(1)(B) of 

16 such Act (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)); and 

17 (B) as though all applicable terms and pro18 visions of the Federal Trade Commission Act 

19 were incorporated into and made a part of this 

20 section, except that any reference in such terms 

21 and provisions to the Commission shall be 

22 treated as referring to the Secretary. 

23 (2) ENFORCEMENT AT RETAIL LEVEL BY

24 STATE ATTORNEYS GENERAL.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—If the chief law en2 forcement officer of a State, or an official or 

3 agency designated by a State, has reason to be4 lieve that any person has violated or is violating 

5 subsection (a), the attorney general, official, or 

6 agency of the State, in addition to any author7 ity it may have to bring an action in State 

8 court under its laws, may bring a civil action in 

9 any appropriate United States district court or 

10 in any other court of competent jurisdiction 

11 to— 

12 (i) enjoin further such violation by 

13 such person; 

14 (ii) enforce compliance with such sub15 section; 

16 (iii) obtain civil penalties; and 

17 (iv) obtain damages, restitution, or 

18 other compensation on behalf of residents 

19 of the State. 

20 (B) NOTICE.—The State shall serve writ21 ten notice to the Secretary of any civil action 

22 under subparagraph (A) before initiating such 

23 civil action. The notice shall include a copy of 

24 the complaint to be filed to initiate such civil 

25 action, except that if it is not feasible for the 


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1 State to provide such prior notice, the State 

2 shall provide such notice immediately upon in3 stituting such civil action. 

4 (C) AUTHORITY TO INTERVENE.—Upon 

5 receipt of the notice required by subparagraph 

6 (B), the Secretary may intervene in such civil 

7 action and upon intervening— 

8 (i) be heard on all matters arising in 

9 such civil action; and 

10 (ii) file petitions for appeal of a deci11 sion in such civil action. 

12 (D) CONSTRUCTION.—For purposes of 

13 bringing any civil action under subparagraph 

14 (A), nothing in this paragraph shall prevent the 

15 attorney general of a State from exercising the 

16 powers conferred on the attorney general by the 

17 laws of such State to conduct investigations or 

18 to administer oaths or affirmations or to compel 

19 the attendance of witnesses or the production of 

20 documentary and other evidence. 

21 (E) LIMITATION ON STATE ACTION WHILE

22 FEDERAL ACTION IS PENDING.—If the Sec23 retary has instituted a civil action or an admin24 istrative action for violation of subsection (a), a 

25 State attorney general, or official or agency of 


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1 a State, may not bring an action under this 

2 paragraph during the pendency of that action 

3 against any defendant named in the complaint 

4 of the Secretary or another agency for any vio5 lation of this Act alleged in the complaint. 

6 (F) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—This para7 graph may not be construed to prohibit an au8 thorized State official from proceeding in State 

9 court to enforce a civil or criminal statute of 

10 such State. 

11 (e) LOW-INCOME HOUSING ASSISTANCE.— 

12 (1) DEPOSIT OF FUNDS.—Amounts collected in 

13 any penalty under subsection (d)(1) shall be depos14 ited in the Housing Trust Fund established under 

15 section 1338 of the Federal Housing Enterprises Fi16 nancial Safety and Soundness Act of 1992 (12 

17 U.S.C. 4568). 

18 (2) USE OF FUNDS.—To the extent provided 

19 for in advance in appropriations Acts, the amounts 

20 deposited in the Fund shall be used to increase and 

21 preserve the supply of rental housing affordable to 

22 extremely low- and very low-income families, includ23 ing homeless families, in accordance with such sec24 tion 1338. 

25 (f) EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS.— 


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1 (1) OTHER AUTHORITY OF FEDERAL HOUSING

2 ADMINISTRATION.—Nothing in this section may be 

3 construed to limit the authority of the Secretary 

4 under any other provision of law. 

5 (2) STATE LAW.—Nothing in this section pre6 empts any State law. 

7 SEC. 3. HUD INVESTIGATION AND REPORT ON HOUSING 

8 PRICES. 

9 (a) INVESTIGATION.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall conduct 

11 an investigation to determine if the prices for rental 

12 housing units or sale of single-family housing are 

13 being manipulated by reducing housing capacity or 

14 by any other form of market manipulation or artifi15 cially increased by price gouging practices. 

16 (2) CONSIDERATION.—In conducting the inves17 tigation under paragraph (1), the Secretary may 

18 consider the impact of mergers and acquisitions in 

19 the real estate industry, including mergers and ac20 quisitions involving developers, managers, owners, 

21 and investors. 

22 (b) REPORT.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 270 days 

24 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the SecVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:36 Mar 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H702.IH H702

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1 retary shall submit to the Congress a report on the 

2 investigation conducted under subsection (a). 

3 (2) CONTENTS.—The report shall include— 

4 (A) a long-term strategy for the Depart5 ment of Housing and Urban Development and 

6 the Congress to address manipulation of rental 

7 housing markets and markets for sale of single8 family housing, and in preparing the strategy 

9 the Secretary shall utilize data on race, gender, 

10 and socioeconomic status; and 

11 (B) a description and analysis of how non12 occupant investors in single-family housing im13 pact underserved and minority communities. 

14 (c) EXEMPTION FROM PAPERWORK REDUCTION

15 ACT.—Chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code, shall 

16 not apply to the collection of information under subsection 

17 (a). 

18 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

19 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 

20 out this section $1,000,000 for fiscal year 2024. 

21 SEC. 4. HOUSING COST MONITORING AND ENFORCEMENT 

22 WITHIN HUD. 

23 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF THE HOUSING MONITORING

24 AND ENFORCEMENT UNIT.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 

2 within the Department of Housing and Urban De3 velopment the Housing Monitoring and Enforcement 

4 Unit (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Unit’’). 

5 (2) DUTIES OF THE UNIT.— 

6 (A) PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITY.—The pri7 mary responsibility of the Unit shall be to assist 

8 the Secretary in protecting the public interest 

9 by continuously and comprehensively collecting, 

10 monitoring, and analyzing rental housing mar11 ket data, data for markets for sale of single12 family housing, and data on investor-owned, 

13 non-owner occupied housing units, in order to— 

14 (i) support transparent and competi15 tive market practices; 

16 (ii) identify any market manipulation, 

17 including by collecting and analyzing data 

18 on race, gender, and socioeconomic status, 

19 any reporting of false information, any use 

20 of market power to disadvantage con21 sumers, or any other unfair method of 

22 competition; and 

23 (iii) facilitate enforcement of penalties 

24 against persons in violation of relevant 

25 statutory prohibitions. 


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1 (B) SPECIFIC DUTIES.—In order to carry 

2 out the responsibility under subparagraph (A), 

3 the Unit shall assist the Secretary in carrying 

4 out the following duties: 

5 (i) Receiving, compiling, and ana6 lyzing relevant buying and selling activity 

7 in order to identify and investigate anoma8 lous market trends and suspicious behav9 ior. 

10 (ii) Determining whether excessive 

11 concentration or exclusive control of hous12 ing-related infrastructure may allow or re13 sult in anti-competitive behaviors. 

14 (iii) Obtaining a data-sharing agree15 ment with State and local jurisdictions, 

16 housing agencies, and relevant public and 

17 private data sources to receive and archive 

18 information on housing purchases by insti19 tutional investors within a given area. 

20 SEC. 5. INVESTIGATIONS OF EXCESSIVE HOUSING PUR21 CHASES. 

22 The Secretary shall monitor purchases of single-fam23 ily housing in each housing market area in the United 

24 States, as determined by the Secretary, to determine 

25 whether any single purchaser of such housing, including 


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1 any purchaser that is an institutional investor, is pur2 chasing an excessive amount of such housing made avail3 able for sale in any such market area. If the Secretary 

4 determines that any single purchaser has purchased more 

5 than 5 percent of the single-family housing made available 

6 for sale in any market area over a 3-year period, or if, 

7 in aggregate, large institutional investors have purchased 

8 more than 25 percent of the single-family housing made 

9 available for sale in any market area over a 1-year period, 

10 the Secretary shall conduct an investigation to determine 

11 the purposes of and circumstances involved in such pur12 chases, including price gouging, market manipulation, and 

13 unfair investment practices that drive homeowners out of 

14 the market. 

15 SEC. 6. IDENTIFICATION OF UNFAIR SCREENING PRAC16 TICES. 

17 The Secretary, the Federal Trade Commission, and 

18 the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection shall joint19 ly— 

20 (1) carry out a program to collect information 

21 to identify practices that unfairly prevent applicants 

22 and tenants of rental housing from accessing or 

23 staying in housing, including the establishment and 

24 use of tenant/applicant background checks, the use 

25 of algorithms in tenant screenings, the provision of 


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1 adverse action notices by landlords and property 

2 management companies, and the use of information 

3 regarding tenant income sources; and 

4 (2) submit a report to the Congress annually 

5 describing the information collected under the pro6 gram carried out pursuant to paragraph (1). 

7 SEC. 7. LIMITATION ON FANNIE MAE AND FREDDIE MAC IN8 VESTMENTS. 

9 Subpart A of part 2 of subtitle A of the Federal 

10 Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act 

11 of 1992 (12 U.S.C. 4541 et seq.) is amended by adding 

12 at the end the following new section: 

13 ‘‘SEC. 1329. LIMITATION ON ENTERPRISE INVESTMENTS. 

14 ‘‘The Director shall, by regulations issued after notice 

15 and opportunity for interested parties to comment at a 

16 public hearing, establish standards and criteria for the 

17 purchase by the enterprises of mortgages on multifamily 

18 rental housing as the Director considers necessary to en19 sure basic renter protections and prevent egregious rent 

20 increases for tenants in such housing.’’. 

21 SEC. 8. REVIEW OF ANTI-COMPETITIVE BEHAVIORS. 

22 The Attorney General of the United States and the 

23 Federal Trade Commission shall jointly conduct a review 

24 to identify any anti-competitive behaviors in the single25 family home and residential rental markets, including 


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1 anti-competitive information sharing, and not later than 

2 the expiration of the 12-month period beginning on the 

3 date of the enactment of this Act shall submit a report 

4 to the Congress setting forth the findings of such review. 

5 SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS. 

6 For purposes of this Act, the following definitions 

7 shall apply: 

8 (1) SECRETARY.—Except where specified other9 wise, the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of 

10 Housing and Urban Development. 

11 (2) SINGLE-FAMILY HOUSING.—The term ‘‘sin12 gle-family housing’’ means a residence consisting of 

13 1 to 4 dwelling units, but does not include a dwelling 

14 unit in a condominium or cooperative housing 

15 project. 

Æ 


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