May 15, 2025
Ms. Klobuchar (for herself, Ms. Warren, Ms. Smith, Mr. Wyden, Ms. Hirono, Mr. Merkley, and Mr. Sanders) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
To modify the premerger notification requirements under the Clayton Act with respect to certain acquisitions of residential property, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
Section 1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Housing Acquisitions Review and Transparency Act
or the HART Act
.
Sec. 2. Definitions
In this Act:
(1) Residential property
The term residential property—
(A)
means property that is zoned or intended to be used as a dwelling for individuals or households, including multifamily housing, condominiums, manufactured homes, or single-family homes; and
(B)
does not include any place of short-term lodging.
(2) Investment rental property
The term investment rental property means real property that—
(A)
will not be rented to an entity, including any entity of the acquiring person, except for the sole purpose of maintaining, managing, or supervising the operation of the real property; and
(B)
will be held solely for rental or investment purposes.
(3) Place of short-term lodging
The term place of short-term lodging means a hotel, motel, inn, short-term rental, or other place of lodging that advertises at a price that is a nightly, hourly, or weekly rate.
Sec. 3. Housing transactions reportable
(a) Single acquisition
Section 7A(a) of the Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 18a(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following: For purposes of this subsection, all acquisitions of residential property (as defined in section 2 of the HART Act) by any person within a single calendar year shall be deemed to be a single acquisition and notification pursuant to this subsection shall be filed by the acquiring person upon acquiring the property that brings such single acquisition within any requirement described in paragraph (2) when aggregated with all other prior acquisitions of residential property by the person in that calendar year.
(b) Exemption
Section 7A(c)(1) of the Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 18a(c)(1)) is amended by inserting , unless the transaction includes residential property or investment rental property (as defined in section 2 of the HART Act), including in the form of a real estate investment trust, that is not solely intended for the personal use of an individual.
(c) Code of Federal Regulations
The Federal Trade Commission, with the concurrence of the Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice and by rule, in accordance with section 553 of title 5, United States Code, shall amend part 802 of title 16, Code of Federal Regulations to conform with the amendments to section 7A(a) of the Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 18(a)) made by this Act.
(d) Rulemaking
The Federal Trade Commission, with the concurrence of the Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice and by rule, in accordance with section 553 of title 5, United States Code, shall issue rules relating to the form and documentary material and information relevant to any acquisition or aggregated acquisitions of residential property is necessary and appropriate under section 7A(a) of the Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 18a(a)), as amended by subsection (a), to enable the Federal Trade Commission and the Assistant Attorney General to determine whether such acquisition or aggregated acquisitions may violate the antitrust laws, as defined in subsection (a) of the first section of the Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 12).