Renter Resource Center Act

This Act may be cited as the “Renter Resource Center Act”.

(a) In general.— The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall, not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, establish a renter outreach resource that consists of a toll-free telephone number and a public website designed to assist renters of residential properties owned by a covered large institutional investor in—

(1) notifying Federal agencies about disputes relating to the rental of such properties, including—

(A) disputes about potential violations of Federal law;

(B) disputes about potential violations of State law; and

(C) other disputed renter matters;

(2) sharing information about such disputes with other Federal agencies, including other Federal agencies that manage similar disputes;

(3) monitoring such disputes; and

(4) resolving such disputes, to the extent practicable.

(b) Response to outreach.—

(1) In general.— The Secretary shall establish reasonable procedures to—

(A) promptly respond, in writing where appropriate, to a renter who provides information to the Secretary about a dispute using the renter outreach resource established under subsection (a); and

(B) document such responses.

(2) Contents.— Responses provided under paragraph (1) shall include, where appropriate, information about—

(A) steps that have been taken by the Secretary or another Federal agency in response to the information about the dispute provided by the renter, including determining the appropriate covered large institutional investor involved as described in subsection (c);

(B) any responses received by the Secretary or another Federal agency from the covered large institutional investor related to such dispute; and

(C) any outcome of the dispute, to the extent practicable.

(c) Investigation of potential violations of Federal law.—

(1) In general.— The Secretary shall promptly process and investigate any information relating to a dispute received through the renter outreach resource established under subsection (a) about a potential violation of Federal law that is received from a renter of a residential property owned by a covered large institutional investor through the renter outreach resource established under subsection (a), including by sharing information about such potential violation of Federal law with any relevant Federal agencies, as the Secretary may determine appropriate, and by determining the appropriate covered large institutional investor involved as needed.

(2) Responses to requests for information.— A covered large institutional investor may respond to any request for information made pursuant to paragraph (1) and may include in such response whether such covered large institutional investor owns the property described in such request for information.

(d) Information for appropriate State authority.— When the Secretary receives information about a potential violation of State law or about a dispute received through the renter outreach resource, from a renter of a residential property owned by a covered large institutional investor through the renter outreach resource established under subsection (a), the Secretary shall, at a minimum, provide the renter with contact information for the appropriate, State-specific, State authority authorized to process and investigate such information.

(e) Notice about renter outreach resource.— Each covered large institutional investor shall—

(1) provide to each renter of a residential property owned by such investor at the time such renter first occupies such home and annually thereafter—

(A) written notice about the renter outreach resource established under subsection (a); and

(B) the name, phone number, and email address of the person or entity responsible for receiving and addressing renter disputes for the covered large institutional investor, and update the name, phone number, and email address within 30 days if such information changes prior to the subsequent time at which such notice is required to be provided; and

(2) prominently feature information about the renter outreach resource established under subsection (a) on a public website of such investor that is accessible by such renter.

(f) Annual report to the Congress.—

(1) In general.— The Secretary shall, not later than March 31 of each year, submit to the Congress a public report which analyzes and aggregates the information received or obtained pursuant to this Act during the prior year that includes—

(A) information about the types and the number of disputes received about potential violations of Federal law;

(B) information about the types and the number of disputes received about potential violations of State law;

(C) information about the types and the number of disputes received about other disputed renter matters;

(D) where practicable, information about the resolution of such disputes; and

(E) information provided to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under subsection (h).

(2) Anonymization of data.— Any data included in a report that is submitted under this paragraph shall be aggregated or anonymized so as to protect any individual dispute or personally identifiable information received through the renter outreach resource.

(g) Protection of personal information.— In complying with the requirements of this Act, the Secretary shall take such measures as the Secretary determines are necessary to provide for the protection of personally identifiable information received through the renter outreach resource in a manner that conforms with existing standards for protection of the confidentiality of personally identifiable information.

(h) Annual notification.— An owner of a residential property owned by a covered large institutional investor, as such term is defined in subsection (i) shall, beginning in calendar year 2026—

(1) notify the Secretary each year, before December 31st whether such owner remains a covered large institutional investor as defined in subsection (i); and

(2) in such notification, identify how many covered single-family homes such covered large institutional investor has direct or indirect investment control of as of the date of the submission of such notice, and the city and State where each such covered single-family home is located, unless such covered large institutional investor owns 10 or fewer covered single-family homes in such city.

(i) Definitions.— In this section:

(2) Covered large institutional investor.—

(A) In general.— The term covered large institutional investor—

(i) means an investment fund, corporation, general or limited partnership, limited liability company, joint venture, association, or other for-profit entity that is a legal entity structured in a manner that is not aforementioned that—

(I) is engaged, in whole or in part, in the business of investing in, owning, renting, or holding covered single-family homes; and

(II) alone or in concert with 1 or more other entities, beginning after the date of enactment of this Act, has direct or indirect investment control of not less than 350 covered single-family homes in the aggregate, not including any covered single-family home purchased in an excepted purchase made after the date of enactment of this Act; and

(ii) does not include—

(I) any local, State, Tribal, or Federal Government entity or instrumentality thereof;

(II) a nonprofit organization described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 that is exempt from taxation under section 501(a) of the Internal Revenue Code; or

(III) a community land trust as such term is defined in section 104 of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 12704), as amended by this Act.

(B) Investment control.—

(i) In general.— For purposes of this paragraph, an entity has direct or indirect investment control over a covered single-family home if the entity—

(I) owns, or has primary authority or fiduciary responsibility to make material investment or management decisions relating to the covered single-family home;

(II) is or directly or indirectly controls, the general partner or managing member of the entity that owns the covered single-family home;

(III) is or controls the investment manager, management company, or investment advisor of the entity that owns the covered single-family home;

(IV) owns or controls more than 25 percent of any class of equity interests of the entity that owns the covered single-family home, unless such entity is a passive investor; or

(V) otherwise controls the entity that owns the covered single-family home.

(ii) Passive investment.— For purposes of this paragraph, an entity shall be considered a passive investor if such entity does not satisfy subclauses (I), (II), and (III) of clause (i).

(C) Rule of construction.—

(i) In general.— Nothing in this Act shall be construed to establish that an entity has direct or indirect investment control over a covered single-family home solely by virtue of—

(I) such entity’s entry into, or performance under, a third-party contract for the property management of a covered single-family home, including tasks related to maintenance of the home and the selection of tenants, provided that such entity does not have direct or indirect investment control over such a covered single-family home; or

(II) owning a fractional interest of a covered large institutional investor.

(3) Covered single-family home.— The term covered single-family home—

(A) means a property that contains 2 or fewer dwelling units that are each intended for residential occupancy by a single household; and

(B) does not include—

(i) a manufactured home, as defined in section 603 of the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5402);

(ii) a property that, when occupied, has always been occupied by a renter;

(iii) a property that, when occupied, is rented to a member of a regular component of the Armed Forces or a member of the National Guard on full-time National Guard duty, active Guard and Reserve duty, or inactive-duty training (as those terms are defined in section 101 of title 10, United States Code) who has received—

(I) temporary duty orders to deploy with a military unit or military orders to deploy as an individual acting in support of a military operation for a period of not less than 90 days; or

(II) orders for a permanent change of station;

(iv) a property owned by its owner for less than 365 days, other than a covered single-family home purchased pursuant to paragraph (4)(F);

(v) a property that is made up of multiple rental homes or units constructed on a single parcel of property that cannot legally be sold as individual homes or units without further subdividing the property;

(vi) a property that is actively under a first-look period for owner-occupants or HUD-approved affordable housing nonprofits for a period of not less than 30 days; or

(vii) a property that is designed and intended to be occupied or leased by the bedroom or in which individual bedrooms are intended for occupancy by separate, unrelated persons under separate lease or occupancy agreements.

(4) Excepted purchase.— The term excepted purchase means any purchase of a covered single-family home that is—

(A) or will be newly constructed, renovated for sale, or a rental conversion for sale by an owner and not as a residence rented pending sale;

(B) pursuant to a build-to-rent program where an owner purchases, constructs, or constructs and retains a newly constructed covered single-family home to be managed as a rental property, whether as part of a community made up exclusively of renter-occupied single-family homes or as part of a community made up of single-family homes that are both owner- and renter-occupied;

(C) pursuant to a renovate-to-rent program that substantially rehabilitates a covered single-family home that does not meet—

(i) structural or core system elements of local building codes; or

(ii) minimum property standards required for conventional mortgage financing;

(D) pursuant to a home-ownership program that—

(i) requires rental payments and any other fees that are not greater than those collected by the covered large institutional investor on other similarly situated covered single-family homes not covered by the eligible home-ownership program;

(ii) provides for positive reporting of rental payments to consumer reporting agencies for any renter, who shall be informed of and opts into such reporting;

(iii) provides for a right of first refusal and a 60-day first-look period for the current renter in instances where the covered single-family home is offered for sale to another owner; and

(iv) requires contribution of meaningful financial support from the covered large institutional investor, including price concessions, for the purchase of a covered single-family home by the renter, whether for the home the renter is occupying or another home;

(E) in connection with the satisfaction of debts previously contracted in good faith and where the owner has the right to repossess the covered single-family home under such contract;

(F) undertaken by a mortgage servicer, lender, or other entity that has a legal right to purchase or otherwise acquire a covered single-family home, for the purpose of loss mitigation or compliance with servicing or investor obligations, and not as a long-term investment strategy, and is solely as a result of—

(i) a foreclosure;

(ii) a deed in lieu of foreclosure;

(iii) enforcement of a mortgage, deed of trust, or other security interest; or

(iv) operation of law following borrower default, provided that for federally backed mortgage loans as defined in section 4022(a) of the CARES Act (15 U.S.C. 9056(a)), including such loans that are sold to a third party, when the foreclosed property purchased under this provision is offered for sale, the mortgage servicer, lender, or other entity provides a 30-day first-look period to an owner-occupant or to an affordable housing nonprofit approved by the relevant Federal agency;

(G) purchased from a covered large institutional investor that either owned the covered single-family home on the date of enactment of this Act or purchased the covered single-family home through an exempted purchase;

(H) intended and operated for occupancy as part of a community for households with 1 or more members aged 55 years or older, and to the extent required by law, satisfies visitability standards established by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development;

(I) intended to and will be after the purchase operated as a facility—

(i) used to provide residential care to individuals with disabilities (as such term is defined in section 3 of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12102)) or developmental disabilities (as such term is defined in section 102 of the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 15002)); and

(ii) that connects such individuals with community-based services that are approved by Medicaid or Medicare;

(J) acquired as a part of a community of 5 or more contiguous rental units;

(K) planned, permitted, financed, and constructed as a part of a single unified rental community on a single platted parcel, where a owner or an affiliate thereof owns or controls the land and manages the community as a single rental facility, and the individual structures within the community are not offered or intended for individual sale to separate purchasers;

(L) purchased with support from any program described in section 42 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or any other affordable housing program in which the rent of supported units is restricted; or

(M) executed through a combination or series of purchases described in subparagraphs (A) through (L).

(5) First-look period.— The term first-look period means the specified period of time commencing on the first day on which a property is made available for sale during which it is exclusively made available for purchase only to the entities specified.

(6) Purchase.— The term purchase includes any purchase, transfer, or other acquisition of a covered single-family home, including through mergers, acquisitions, foreclosures, or bulk purchases, whether or not for cash consideration.

(7) Secretary.— The term Secretary means the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

(8) State.— The term State means each of the 50 several States of the United States, the District of Columbia, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.