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The �鶹��ý Trade Commission issued a request for public comment on potential FTC orders that seek to understand how large-scale single-family rental owner operators, known as mega investors, have affected home prices and rents across the single-family rental market.

The Commission voted to authorize staff to publish a �鶹��ý Register Notice seeking public comment on potential 6(b) orders that would inform an FTC study of mega single-family rental investors. Mega single-family rental investors are entities that own more than 1,000 single-family rental homes.

The potential 6(b) orders would seek information from more than 30 mega investors regarding their corporate structure, current and historical housing inventory information, rental and fee income, as well as strategic business plans and other investor information regarding growth plans, competition, prices, and expenses.

“As Americans face a housing shortage and pay soaring rents, it’s vital to understand the role played by large institutional investors,” said FTC Chair Lina M. Khan. “This proposed study would shed much-needed light on the mega-investors that have amassed huge portfolios of single-family rental units and potentially contributed to the housing challenges that Americans face.”

“The rise in mega corporate landlords has deeply troubling implications for renters,” said Director of the Office of Policy Planning Hannah Garden-Monheit. “The FTC is committed to uncovering the scope of these large corporations’ holdings and their effects on housing costs.”

The FTC is seeking public comment on the potential orders to mega investors, including comments on which entities may qualify as mega investors. Additionally, the FTC invites comments on the practicality of the proposed orders, the accuracy of the FTC’s estimated cost burden, as well as ways to enhance the quality, utility and clarity of the information being collected while minimizing the burden on the orders’ recipients of producing the requested data.

If the potential 6(b) orders are issued, the FTC plans to publish a comprehensive property list that will match individual single-family rental properties to their affiliated owner entities based on information received from the proposed 6(b) orders. In addition, the information obtained in this proposed 6(b) study would help the FTC understand how the rise of mega investors into single-family rental homes has affected house prices and rental rates, as well as the effects of ongoing consolidation in the industry.

These comments will be considered before the FTC submits a request for the Office of Management and Budget to review the 6(b) orders as required under the Paperwork Reduction Act.

An Area of Growing Concern

Following the 2007-2008 financial crisis, the single-family rental home market structure changed with the rise of large-scale investors that own large regional single-family rental inventories. Researchers estimate that mega single-family rental investors collectively own and operate 446,000 homes nationwide.

The FTC’s request for public comment on a proposed 6(b) study into mega investors follows growing concern from local, state, and federal policy makers regarding the growth of mega single-family rental investors in local markets.

Members of the public submitted numerous comments specifically identifying large single-family rental investors as responsible for buying up inventories of houses in local markets across the United States in response to a recent FTC and DOJ request for information on serial acquisitions. In an FTC listening session in June 2024 for renters in Atlanta, participants expressed concerns about the effects of mega single-family rental investor expansion. Members of Congress also have sent the FTC letters urging that the Commission use its existing authority to require reporting of residential real estate transactions under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act.

The public will have 60 days to submit comments at Regulations.gov. Once submitted, comments will be posted to Regulations.gov.

The Commission vote authorizing the publication of the �鶹��ý Register notice was 5-0. Commissioner Andrew N. Ferguson issued a statement joined by Commissioner Melissa Holyoak.