State Considers Legislation Restricting Minnesota Single Family Home Investors

For the past several years, rent control in Minneapolis and St Paul has dominated conversations between housing providers. So much so, in fact, it’s easy to forget the state legislature is capable of passing bills that impact landlords too.

For example, on Feb.1, the House Housing Finance and Policy Committee listened to proposed legislation from Rep. Esther Agbaje which would prohibit contractors, developers, and corporations from buying single-family homes and turning them into rental properties.

No, I’m not making it up. You can read the proposed legislation here. The thinking behind the bill is to help make homeownership possible for more people by keeping investors from purchasing them.

Paul Eger, senior vice president of government affairs for the Minnesota Realtors Association testified in opposition to the bill, stating that while the Realtors Association certainly supports homeownership for more Minnesotans, well-intended legislation can have unforeseen consequences if the real estate market changes.

One simply needs to reflect on 2008-2014 to know without investors, it may have taken several years more to clear the backlog of foreclosures created by the financial crisis of 2008.

If this all sounds preposterous, the proposed legislation was actually passed and sent to the House Judiciary Finance and Civil Law Committee.

If you’d like to weigh in on this, contact your representative in the Minnesota House. And if you aren’t even sure who they are, click here to find out.