LANSING, Mich., Dec. 16, 2025 — State Rep. Jason Morgan (D-Ann Arbor) introduced the Shielding Tenants and Owners from Predatory (STOP) Private Equity Act (House Bills 5365-5367), a comprehensive legislative package aimed at stopping Wall Street-backed investors, private equity firms, and hedge funds from buying up Michigan homes and driving up costs for millions of regular people. The bills target the predatory business models that are fueling Michigan’s housing affordability crisis and pushing everyday people out of the homeownership market.

“Families shouldn’t have to fight Wall Street to find a place to call home, but that’s exactly what’s happening,” Morgan said. “The dream of owning a home is slipping away from millions because giant investment firms are sweeping up the very houses people are trying to live in. People are tired of being outbid by private equity and treated like they don’t matter while Wall Street, who have never set foot in our communities, turns neighborhoods into profit machines. A home is more than a commodity. It’s stability, safety, and the foundation for the American dream. It’s time we put people before profits.”

Michigan and other states have seen a surge in private equity-driven housing activity: bulk home purchases that shrink the supply of affordable starter homes, and wholesaling schemes that prey on seniors and financially distressed owners. The STOP Private Equity Act tackles these problems by:

  • Discouraging corporate hoarding of single-family homes. The package imposes a surtax on large investors that buy homes in bulk, making it more expensive for private equity firms and hedge funds to gobble up the limited housing supply that working families and first-time home buyers depend on. It also requires these investors to disclose who owns the properties, preventing shell companies from hiding large-scale activities. Additionally, entities that receive state and local tax credits and economic development incentives are required to record anti-flip covenants, are prohibited from making certain bulk sales and must sell a certain percentage of homes to individuals who will occupy the homes. An entity that violates those requirements must pay back the credits and are barred from receiving either of these benefits for 10 years. 

 

  • Cracking down on predatory “We Buy Houses for Cash” middlemen. Wholesalers will be regulated under the same terms of real estate professionals, required to disclose their profits, operate under existing licensing rules and provide homeowners with a five-day cooling-off period to walk away from bad deals — ensuring people are not tricked into signing away their homes for far less than they’re worth.

In addition to these reforms, lawmakers in both the House and Senate are advancing separate efforts to strengthen protections for residents of manufactured housing communities. These initiatives aim to improve conditions, increase stability and fight to make these communities affordable for the people who rely on them, complementing the broader conversation on housing affordability across Michigan.

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