HOME Act of 2025

This bill aims to stop price gouging in housing and give renters and homebuyers a fairer market. During a declared “affordable housing crisis,” it would be illegal to charge rent or sell a home at an extremely high price that takes advantage of the crisis. The housing secretary would decide when a crisis is happening based on things like mortgage rates, median rents and home prices, household income, and disaster declarations. A crisis period could last up to 30 days at a time and be renewed, and it could start up to a week before a predicted crisis. These rules would be enforced by HUD and state attorneys general. Money from penalties would go to the national Housing Trust Fund to support affordable homes for very low‑income families.

The bill also orders HUD to investigate if rents and home prices are being pushed up by market manipulation and to report back within 270 days. It provides $1 million to do this work. It creates a new HUD unit to track housing data, spot unfair practices, and work with states to monitor investor purchases. If one buyer gets more than 5% of single‑family homes for sale in a local market over three years—or if large investors together buy more than 25% in a year—HUD must investigate. The bill directs HUD, the FTC, and the CFPB to identify unfair tenant screening practices, like harmful algorithms or misuse of background checks, and report to Congress each year. It also tells the housing finance regulator to set standards so loans they back for apartment buildings include basic renter protections and prevent egregious rent hikes, and it requires the Justice Department and the FTC to review anti‑competitive behavior in housing within a year.

Key points

• Who is affected: Renters, homebuyers, landlords, home sellers, large investors, and federal/state agencies.
• What changes: Temporary ban on price gouging during housing crises; new HUD monitoring unit; investigations into big investor purchases; review of unfair tenant screening; stronger renter protections tied to government‑backed loans; antitrust review of housing markets; penalties fund affordable housing.
• When: Crisis rules apply during declared periods (up to 30 days, renewable); HUD report due within 270 days; market‑competition review due within one year.