America has an affordable housing crisis

America has an affordable housing crisis, and if we don't take action, it's going to get worse. One thing I'm doing about it is working to stop Wall Street hedge funds from driving up rents and home prices by outbidding regular folks with all-cash, no-inspection, over-the-asking-price offers.

The 2008 housing crisis was fueled by predatory private mortgages and unregulated markets, and Wall Street hedge funds took advantage by gobbling up large portfolios of foreclosed homes. With the federal government facilitating this corporate greed through bulk sales of federally backed mortgages and foreclosed properties, ordinary families were shut out of recovering housing stability. It was flat-out wrong.

All over the country, including right here in Oregon, hedge funds are wielding their financial muscle to snatch up available housing, outbid ordinary Americans, drive up prices and rents, and turn neighborhoods into Wall Street profit centers at the expense of folks struggling to find a place to call home.

I'm tackling this problem with my End Hedge Fund Control of American Homes Act to kick hedge funds out of the housing market and increase access to affordable housing.

Here's what my legislation does: it bans hedge funds from owning single-family homes, forcing hedge funds and other large private investors to sell their inventory of single-family homes to families who don't currently own a home. And if the hedge funds don't, they are required to pay a substantial tax penalty that funds a down payment assistance program.

We need to stop Wall Street from putting profits before people because everyone should have a safe, affordable place to call home. We're working to get it done!

Onward!

Jeff