Earlier today President Trump moved markets when he posted on Truth Social that he is issuing an Executive Order banning “large institutional investors from buying more single-family homes. “People live in homes,” he added “not corporations.”
Trump is correct that home owning, a critical part of the American Dream, is now out of reach for most people. It is likely his proposal to ban institutional investors from purchasing will play well with not only his populist base but most Americans
The question is, how well will the idea play with Republicans and amongst conservative legal scholars who have long supported the notion of corporate personhood.
The Supreme Court has recognized corporations as “persons” entitled to certain Constitutional rights—such as free speech and due process—for a long time and supported the notion most recently in cases such as Citizens United v FEC (2010) and Burwell v Hobby Lobby (2014); both decisions that were widely applauded by conservatives and condemned by liberals.
While there are limits to corporate personhood rights (ie., they cannot vote, run for office, etc.) it will be interesting to see if conservatives line up behind the idea that they cannot purchase property? And if they do, why stop there, why not ban them from contributing to campaigns as well?
This is also the first in what is likely to be a series of proposals on affordable housing this year, something that Trump teased last month when he promised to put forward the “most aggressive housing reform plans” in US history. Likewise, White House spokesperson Kush Desai said that homeownership was a “top priority for President Trump’s affordability agenda.”
The ban follows Trump’s brief flirtation with a 50-year mortgage and portable mortgages, proposals he floated - and then seemed to walk away from quickly - after much criticism.
Trump promised more details on the ban during his Davos speech in two weeks. In the meantime, on the news, Blackstone stocks fell as did those of other Wall Street investors so watch for pushback amongst this crowd and a lot of constitutional handwringing about the longstanding principle that corporations are people.
