Richmond Weighs Curbing Corporate Home Buying
- Richmond City Council is weighing a first-in-California ordinance that would bar for-profit corporations from buying homes, after ordering a legal review in February. - The proposal would limit purchases to people, housing nonprofits, cooperatives and governments, cap individuals at four properties, and fine violators $10,000 monthly. - Richmond says more than 1,000 homes are already corporately owned, with purchases rising to 38 in 2025 from 11 in 2023. (richmondconfidential.org)
Richmond is considering a local ban on corporate home buying after the City Council voted in February to seek a legal review of the idea. (richmondconfidential.org) (ci.richmond.ca.us) The proposal came from Councilmember Soheila Bana and the Oakland-based Sustainable Economies Law Center, which first presented it to the council on August 26, 2025, and returned with updates on February 3, 2026. (theselc.org) (ci.richmond.ca.us) Under the draft, only individual people, housing nonprofits, cooperatives and government entities could buy residential properties in Richmond. The rule would cover single-family homes, duplexes, triplexes and fourplexes. (richmondconfidential.org) The draft also tries to close a second path for investors by capping individual buyers at four residential properties. Richmond could void illegal transfers and levy fines of up to $10,000 per violation per month. (richmondconfidential.org) City officials and advocates are pitching the measure as a preventive step, not a forced selloff. Owners that already hold homes through corporations would not have to divest under the proposal. (richmondconfidential.org) The numbers behind the push are local and recent. Richmond Confidential reported that more than 1,000 residential properties in Richmond are already under corporate ownership, citing Old Republic Title data. (richmondconfidential.org) Corporate landlords bought 38 Richmond properties in 2025, up from 33 in 2024 and 11 in 2023. Bana, who works as a real estate agent, said out-of-town investors often arrive with cash and fast closings that first-time buyers cannot match. (richmondconfidential.org) Supporters have framed Richmond as a test case for acting before investor ownership grows further. The law center said the ordinance was designed in part to stop companies like Invitation Homes from buying up family-sized housing in the city. (theselc.org) The local debate is unfolding as Congress considers broader limits on institutional investors buying single-family homes. The Senate passed the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act on March 12, 2026, after the House passed its version on February 9. (mayerbrown.com) (lw.com) For now, Richmond’s next step is legal, not legislative. The city attorney’s office was asked to evaluate the risks of enacting the ban, and the council has not yet taken a final vote on the ordinance itself. (ci.richmond.ca.us) (richmondconfidential.org)
