HART Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1796 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1796

To modify the premerger notification requirements under the Clayton Act 
 with respect to certain acquisitions of residential property, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
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).
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