CREF Policy Update: Congress Eyes Single-Family Rental Investor Ban Proposal Following President Trump SOTU Address
Congress Eyes Single-Family Rental Investor Ban Proposal Following President Trump SOTU Address
• Last Tuesday evening, President Donald Trump delivered his State of the Union Address, an almost two-hour speech that primarily focused on his 2025 record on the economy, immigration, foreign policy, tariffs, and more.
While housing affordability was only briefly mentioned – in the context of lower mortgage rates and new loan amounts being lower than a year ago – President Trump doubled down on his recent calls for Congress to pass a ban on institutional investors’ ability to buy single-family homes.
Go deeper: In January, President Trump issued an Executive Order (EO) aimed at curbing large institutional investors’ participation in the single-family housing market by directing federal agencies to identify ways to halt government-backed financing, insurance, or securitization of homes that could otherwise be owned by individuals, and by prohibiting the sale of federally owned single-family properties to such investors.
Why it matters: Since last month’s EO was issued, President Trump has urged Congress to essentially codify restrictions on institutional investors purchasing single-family homes. While details regarding final legislative text remain fluid, a recent White House proposal would bar entities that own more than 100 single-family homes (subject to limited exceptions) from acquiring additional properties, though it would not require them to divest homes they already own.
• MBA’s primary concerns are that any legislation must avoid: inadvertently scoping in properties that have traditionally operated as multifamily rental communities, undermining housing affordability by constraining capital for rental housing, limiting build-to-rent communities, and restricting mortgage servicers’ ability to efficiently acquire and dispose of REO properties—activities essential to maintaining housing supply and neighborhood stability.
What’s next: Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) has taken procedural steps to begin floor consideration of an evolving iteration/amended version of the recently House-passed (Feb. 9) bipartisan housing package, H.R. 6644, the Housing for the 21st Century Act of 2025. The House bill would be combined in some form or fashion with the Senate’s ROAD to Housing Act – which was cleared unanimously by the Senate Banking Committee last summer. The White House and Treasury Department have urged Senate leaders to add finalized institutional investor ban text to this emerging bicameral housing package as the floor debate evolves over the next two weeks.
• MBA is engaged with the Administration and lawmakers in both chambers of Congress – and on both sides of the political aisle – on key elements of the housing package, including the institutional investor ban piece.
For more information, please contact Bill Killmer at (202) 557-2736, Rachel Kelley at (202) 557-2816, George Rogers at (202) 557-2797 and Jeremy Green at (202) 557-2849.
Prudential Regulators Testify at Senate Banking Committee Hearing
Last Thursday, the Senate Banking Committee held a hearing titled, “Update from the Prudential Regulators: Rightsizing Regulation to Promote American Opportunity.” The hearing witnesses were Michelle Bowman, Vice Chair for Supervision, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System; Travis Hill, Chairman, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC); Jonathan Gould, Comptroller, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC); and Kyle Hauptman, Chairman, National Credit Union Administration.
• The hearing focused on the state of the banking sector, tailoring the regulatory and supervisory framework to the risks posed by different bank business models, and modernizing capital requirements. A summary of the hearing can be found here.
• Chairman Tim Scott (R-SC) praised Vice Chair Bowman’s recent public comments about “helping banks return to mortgage lending.” Vice Chair Bowman elaborated on this in response to Chairman Scott, noting that as a former community banker, she saw firsthand how regulations made it “very difficult for us to change the way that we did real estate lending.” She explained that the upcoming revised Basel III “Endgame” proposal would “encourage the banks to get back into the mortgage business.”
Go deeper: MBA’s Statement for the Record for the hearing focused on recalibrating CRE risk-weights to better align the capital charges with the loan-specific risks, as well as a number of other necessary single-family specific reforms. A number of senators posed mortgage-specific questions to the regulators.
What’s next: The prudential regulators testified that they had reached consensus on the Basel III proposal and mentioned their desire to release a proposed rule to the public by the end of March (while acknowledging this timeline could slip). MBA will continue to engage closely with key officials and staff at the Federal Reserve, FDIC, and OCC (as well as lawmakers) on these crucial bank capital standards.
For more information, please contact: George Rogers at (202) 557-2797 and/or Jeremy Green at (202) 557-2849.
HUD Proposes Changes to Enhance Efficiency
Last Thursday night, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) published the Multifamily Improvements for MAP Efficiency draft mortgagee letter on the drafting table.
• This letter is a result of listening sessions held between HUD and MBA members last spring and importantly, includes many (21 pages of) proposed changes to tax abatements, wind-named storm, use of third-party reports, updates to calculations and methodologies, and more.
Why it matters: MBA and its members have been advocating for changes to the MAP program to make it more efficient. The streamlining proposals included will reduce processing burdens and loan costs.
What’s next: HUD has provided a short comment period, with comments are due by March 15. MBA will work with its FHA Council to formulate and submit a response.
For more information, please contact Megan Booth at (202) 557-2740.
Secure Your Spot for #MBANAC26
Last month at #MBACREF26, Northmarq CEO Jeff Weidell sat down with MBA VP of Communications Adam DeSanctis to preview MBA’s 2026 National Advocacy Conference and discuss why Commercial/Multifamily (CREF) members should join us in Washington, D.C., on April 14-15. Click on the image above to watch the video interview.
• This year’s NAC will once again contain a dedicated CREF track on Wednesday, April 15, featuring conversations with key policymakers whose decisions work to shape the commercial real estate finance landscape. This is a great opportunity to engage directly with both legislators and regulators, connect with colleagues across the industry, and hear from policy experts on the issues most relevant to commercial and multifamily finance.
• With so many critical priorities on the agenda—including the future of the GSEs, promoting solutions to housing affordability, and supporting long‑term reauthorization of essential federal programs such as the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA)—your presence at NAC matters. Showing up, sharing insights, and providing lawmakers with timely information is essential to driving meaningful progress for the commercial and multifamily sectors.
Go deeper: So far, this year’s speaker lineup features House Financial Services Committee Chairman French Hill (R‑AR), senior Senate Banking Committee member Mike Rounds (R‑SD), political analyst Charlie Cook, and National Journal Editor Kirk Bado. As always, we are awaiting confirmations from additional speakers to ensure a bipartisan program that reflects perspectives from both parties. It’s shaping up to be a compelling agenda that will prepare attendees—including those participating in the CREF track—for a productive day on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, April 15.
Why it matters: NAC provides a valuable platform for commercial and multifamily finance professionals to meet directly with elected officials and key staffers to discuss the policy issues shaping commercial real estate markets, capital flows, and the broader economy.
What’s next: MBA will continue to engage with industry advocates throughout the year, including during our annual Advocacy in August campaign held during the congressional August Recess. During this period, MBA’s Legislative and Political Affairs team will once again coordinate in‑person and virtual meetings with lawmakers in their home states or districts. You can also join MBA for the Mortgage Action Alliance’s (MAA) Action Week (May 11–15) to participate and lead a MAA campaign at your company or state association, helping to grow our industry’s collective advocacy efforts.
For more information, please contact maa@mba.org or Margie Ehrhardt at (202) 557- 2708 or Jamey Lynch at (202) 557-2818.
MBA CREF Commercial Council Meets to Discuss Market Outlook and Industry Sentiment
Last Tuesday, MBA’s CREF Commercial Council convened to review the 2025 market recap, discuss the 2026 market outlook, and assess industry sentiment, including insights from first-quarter conferences and signals of optimism and concern across the commercial real estate finance market.
Why it matters: The CREF Commercial Council serves as a vital forum for bringing together commercial real estate finance professionals across all capital sources, fostering collaboration and meaningful dialogue on the trends and opportunities shaping the market. By engaging leaders from across the industry, MBA empowers its members to stay informed, connected, and well-positioned to drive the future of commercial real estate finance.
What’s next: The Council will continue its work with upcoming meetings on April 29, July 21, and Sept. 16, 2026. Members are encouraged to reach out to Kelli Burke with suggestions for future meeting topics.
For more information, please contact Kelli Burke at (202) 557-2742.
Upcoming MBA CREF Council and Committee Meetings
MBA’s CREF Councils and Committees are a key way to connect to everything MBA has to offer around policy, advocacy, market intelligence and research, education, and networking. Councils and Committees are built around specific capital sources and serve as an opportunity for you to join other commercial real estate finance professionals to hear from experts, discuss opportunities and challenges, and connect with peers.
Upcoming virtual meetings include:
• FHA Council: March 17
• Structured Finance Council: March 18
• Servicer Council: March 19
• Bank Council: March 25
• Private Credit Finance: April 23
• Commercial Council: April 29
For more information, click on the links above and/or contact Kelli Burke at (202) 557- 2742.
Upcoming MBA Education Webinars on Critical Industry Issues
MBA Education continues to deliver timely commercial/multifamily and single-family programming that covers the spectrum of challenges, opportunities, obstacles and solutions pertaining to our industry. Below, please see a list of upcoming and recent webinars – all complimentary to MBA members:
• Builder’s Risk Insurance Essentials for Commercial & Multifamily Properties – March 18
• Data & System Privacy in an AI World – April 2
• Introduction to Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities – April 8
• Basics of Commercial Loan Closing and Loan Documentation – May 12
MBA members can register for any of the above events and view recent webinar recordings by clicking here.
For more information, please contact David Upbin at (202) 557-2931.
