Large housing investors would face purchase limits and tax add-backs

A covered entity would be barred from buying or offering to buy an interest in a one- or two-family home unless the home had been publicly listed for at least 30 days. The rule covers institutional real estate investors and entities funded by them to buy one- or two-family homes. It excludes certain nonprofits, county land reutilization corporations, and creditors taking property to satisfy secured debt. A mortgage loan available to the general public would not count as funding for this rule. The supplied text does not state when this purchase rule would begin or end.

The state director could hold a hearing and impose a civil penalty of up to $250,000 for each violation. The enforcement rule applies when the director believes a covered entity violated the proposed home-purchase restriction. The director must conduct the hearing under the state's administrative hearing law. The attorney general would bring a civil collection case if the director makes a written request. The supplied text does not state when this enforcement process would begin or end.

Taxpayers would add certain federal interest deductions and the full amount of certain federal depreciation deductions tied to covered homes owned by institutional real estate investors when calculating Ohio income. The rules apply to interest and qualifying depreciation connected to one- or two-family homes owned by an institutional real estate investor, including a taxpayer's share from a pass-through entity. The interest addition would not apply in a taxable year when the home is sold to an individual for use as that person's main home or to a nonprofit focused on affordable housing. The supplied text does not state whether these provisions can be implemented without a separate appropriation. The provisions would apply to taxable years ending on or after the section's effective date, but the supplied text does not provide that date.