Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts and ranking member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, speaks during a roundtable on housing affordability in Washington on January 7, 2026.
Al Drago | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Both congressional Democrats and President Donald Trump want to limit the number of homes that large corporations can own, but a new proposal from Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., makes clear the deal ends there.
In a bill released hours before Trump’s State of the Union address, Warren, Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., and 16 other Senate Democrats are proposing to eliminate some housing-related tax benefits for large corporations. The bill would prevent companies with more than 50 single-family rental homes from taking deductions for home depreciation and mortgage interest payments. Companies would also be prohibited from taking out government-backed mortgages.
The bill provides a temporary carve-out for companies that build new apartment buildings or renovate properties that would otherwise be uninhabitable.
The Trump administration is pushing its own housing proposal. In a memo sent to lawmakers last week, the administration proposed banning institutional investors who own more than 100 single-family homes from purchasing new single-family homes. Trump’s proposal also includes several exemptions for companies that increase the number of single-family homes.
The dueling proposals come at a time when legislation to improve housing supply and affordability is on the verge of becoming law. The House passed a bipartisan bill with broad support earlier this month, and the Senate advanced its own bipartisan bill last year. Both sides are working to combine the proposals into a final package.