Tennessee Senate Bill SB2126

Tennessee 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 1/22/26
• Failed: 4/7/26

Caption

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 4; Title 5; Title 6; Title 7; Title 13; Title 47; Title 48; Title 61; Title 66 and Title 67, relative to real estate investment trusts.

Summary

SB2126 requires the Tennessee comptroller of the treasury to compile and submit a report on real estate investment trusts (REITs) that purchase single-family homes in Tennessee. The bill defines the covered REITs as entities that qualify under federal tax law and that acquire ten or more single-family homes in the state during calendar year 2025. Using existing data and deed records, the comptroller must report de-identified information about how many homes each REIT purchased, the appraised value of those homes, and how many were acquired through foreclosure, sold during the same year, or used as rental properties. The report is due by December 31, 2026, and must be delivered to the governor, legislative leaders, and the chairs of the committees with jurisdiction over state and local government and housing. The bill does not directly regulate REIT purchases or rentals, but instead creates a state-level data collection and reporting requirement intended to increase transparency around institutional ownership of single-family housing.

Impact

The bill amends multiple titles of the Tennessee Code Annotated only in a general caption sense, but its operative effect is limited to creating a one-time reporting mandate for the comptroller. It does not impose taxes, licensing requirements, or ownership restrictions on REITs; rather, it directs the state to use existing records to gather de-identified information about REIT activity in the single-family housing market for one calendar year. The practical impact is on state reporting obligations and on REITs as market participants whose home purchases and dispositions would be tracked in aggregate for legislative review.

Sentiment

Based on the bill text and the absence of recorded committee debate or votes in the provided materials, the bill appears to be a neutral, informational measure rather than a controversial regulatory proposal. Its structure suggests an interest in understanding the role of institutional investors in the housing market, especially REIT ownership of single-family homes. Because there are no transcripts or voting records here, no clear support or opposition can be inferred from the available context.

Contention

The main potential point of contention is the policy focus on REITs and institutional ownership of single-family homes, which may raise concerns among housing advocates about affordability, foreclosure acquisitions, and the conversion of homes into rentals. On the other hand, REITs and market-oriented stakeholders could view the bill as burdensome only to the extent that it creates reporting scrutiny without providing a broader regulatory framework. Since the bill only requires a de-identified report and does not restrict transactions, any disagreement would likely center on whether the state should move beyond data collection to direct market intervention.