Editor’s Note: The RISMedia series, Legislative Round-Up looks at pending and passed federal and state-level legislation that impacts real estate professionals.
The U.S. is still adjusting to the new Trump administration, which has sought to cut numerous federal employees (including at the Department of Housing and Urban Development), and has both implemented and then retracted tariff policies.
How is housing being affected? At both the state and national level, lawmakers are continuing to introduce policies that would impact homeowners, homebuyers and the real estate professionals who serve them.
Alabama REALTORS® back bill to adjust buyer representation agreements
A bill that has made its way through the Alabama legislature would prevent homebuyers from being compelled to sign a buyer representation agreement before being able to tour a property. The legislation is backed by the Alabama Association of REALTORS®.
Following its settlement in commission lawsuits, the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) revised rules in 2024 to mandate a written representation agreement between MLS participating professionals and the consumer before touring. Alabama REALTORS® had used written buyer agreements as standard practice prior to the NAR settlement. Current Alabama state law requires a written agreement for an agency relationship (but not a transaction broker relationship), as well as that real estate professionals provide a written disclosure form to consumers about brokerage services before the consumer discloses confidential information.
The bill’s text claims that NAR’s new rule conflicts with existing Alabama state law, and the bill would remedy that. Under the bill, the brokerage disclosure form (including information about the compensation of the real estate professional) must be given before a tour can take place. After receiving that form, the consumer retains the option to enter a brokerage relationship, but is not required to do so.
Now, the bill does not mandate that the agreement can only be signed after the tour. It also requires that a written buyer representation agreement is in place before a purchase offer can be made. Alabama REALTORS® have praised the “balanced” approach of the legislation and claimed it will offer greater transparency for consumers and professionals.
The Department of Justice has cited the current NAR rules about written buyer agreements as potentially anticompetitive. Alabama’s changes to representation agreement rules are seemingly intended to address some of these concerns.
The bill unanimously passed the Alabama House in February and then passed the Alabama Senate in March, putting it on track to the governor’s desk for either approval or veto.
HUD is reportedly considering the addition of cryptocurrency programs
The Trump administration has been pushing a renewed focus on cryptocurrency, and reporting suggests this could make its way into the housing sector.
Some mainstream and industry media have reported that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is currently considering using cryptocurrency, which could be a trial run for more of the federal government to do so. One apparent proposal, reportedly being pushed by HUD’s Principal Deputy Chief Financial Officer Irving Dennis, is to use blockchain technology to monitor HUD grants. The report also claims that HUD has discussed the use of stablecoin, a cryptocurrency that has its value attached to another asset so as to avoid wild fluctuations in value.
However, Dennis and HUD spokesperson Kasey Lovett both denied these plans. “The department has no plans for blockchain or stablecoin,” said Lovett to ProPublica.
An anonymous HUD staffer speaking to ProPublica compared the reliance on crypto technology to the practices that led to the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis.
California pushes insurance payout reform to benefit homeowners
The Los Angeles wildfires in January 2025 left many homes damaged or destroyed. In February, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced plans for a new bill that would reform the insurance payout process to better benefit homeowners.
Post-disaster insurance payouts are held in escrow accounts until the rebuilding of a property is complete. This new bill would require that insurance lenders pay the homeowners the interest that accrues on their payout while it is held in escrow.
“Homeowners rebuilding after a disaster need all the support they can get, including the interest earned on their insurance funds. This is a commonsense solution that ensures that they receive every resource available to help them recover and rebuild,” said Newsom in a release.
The bill will reportedly be heard in the California legislature this coming spring.
During the state of emergency brought on by the wildfires, Newsom invoked an existing state law to prevent insurance lenders from canceling affected policies and waived certain regulations for the rebuilding of homes in the affected areas. The California Association of REALTORS® supported both actions, though also encouraged Newsom to extend the regulatory relief to cover new construction in Los Angeles.
HOPE for Homeownership would limit hedge fund ownership
Large financial firms, or institutional investors, have built up a notable presence in the single-family home market following the 2008 financial crisis. Some projections suggest these entities could own as many as 40% of single-family home rentals in the U.S. by 2030.
Critics of institutional investors argue their presence in the single-family market disadvantages homeowners. Large financial firms, such as hedge funds and private equity firms, have the resources to easily and quickly outbid individual homeowners. They also tend to convert single-family homes into rental units, leaving less inventory for buyers.
Numerous bills, at both the state and national level, have been introduced to limit institutional investors’ activities and ownership of single-family homes. The latest is the Humans Over Private Equity (HOPE) for Homeownership Act, introduced this past February. This bill would impose new tax penalties for homeownership on institutional investors so as to free up inventory for individual homebuyers.
The bill’s sponsor, Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), provided exclusive comments about the bill via email to RISMedia. In particular, he claimed that hedge funds are currently “killing the American dream” of homeownership.
Atlanta puts forth new public land use for affordable housing
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens was elected in 2021 on a promise to build and preserve 20,000 affordable housing units by 2030. He has introduced a new way of achieving that goal: inventorying publicly owned land, with a newly launched Atlanta Urban Development Corporation being put in place to attract private developers.
The Dickens administration’s public land use was reportedly inspired by a public land use program developed by city officials in Denmark in the 1980s. Their vision in part includes a new five-year Strategic Plan aims to create and preserve 10,000 affordable housing units by June 2027. Read more about the plan here.
