Sponsor
W. Greg Steube
Representative · R-FL
Representative · R-FL
The bill trades stronger national-security protections and a standardized federal enforcement framework against foreign purchases of U.S. property for increased costs, legal uncertainty, and administrative burdens that may deter legitimate foreign investment and slow transactions.
Homeowners, communities, taxpayers, and state/local governments face a lower risk that hostile foreign actors or state sponsors of terrorism will acquire strategically located U.S. properties, helping protect neighborhood stability and critical infrastructure.
Federal agencies and state/local governments gain a clearer, standardized federal framework to identify prohibited foreign buyers (e.g., foreign adversaries or state sponsors), which can improve consistency and enforceability across jurisdictions.
Communities and local decision-making are supported by limits on certain foreign purchases, preserving greater local control over land use and sensitive sites.
Legitimate foreign investors may be barred or face higher compliance costs, reducing overseas real estate investment, which could slow development and put upward pressure on housing prices for homeowners and renters.
An ambiguous or overly broad definition of 'foreign adversary' could create legal uncertainty and chill lawful transactions for ordinary purchasers and sellers.
Implementing and enforcing the new restrictions across federal and local agencies will impose administrative costs and burdens on governments and private parties required to demonstrate compliance.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Directs the President to require agencies to ban purchases of U.S. public or private real estate by foreign adversaries, state sponsors of terrorism, and related entities.
Official title: To prohibit the purchase of public or private real estate located in the United States by foreign adversaries and state sponsors of terrorism.
Introduced January 15, 2025 by W. Greg Steube · Last progress January 15, 2025
Requires the President to make federal agencies issue regulations that bar purchases of any U.S. real estate (public or private) by foreign adversaries, state sponsors of terrorism, their agents or instrumentalities, and entities owned, controlled by, or affiliated with them. Defines key terms including “foreign adversary,” “state sponsor of terrorism,” and a broad definition of “United States” to include all states, DC, and U.S. territories. The law itself does not appropriate funds or create detailed agency procedures; it directs the executive branch to adopt regulations implementing the ban and supplies statutory definitions for covered actors and geographic scope.