Increase antitrust monitoring for real property owners

(a) Housing acquisitions review and transparency (1) Definitions In this section: (A) Residential property The term residential property — (i) 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 (ii) does not include any place of short-term lodging. (B) Investment rental property The term investment rental property means real property that— (i) 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 (ii) will be held solely for rental or investment purposes. (C) 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. (2) Amendments making 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 6(a) of the American Homeownership 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 6(a) of the American Homeownership 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, shall, by rule, in accordance with section 553 of title 5, United States Code— (i) 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 paragraph; and (ii) rescind any rules exempting residential property or investment rental property pursuant to section 7A(d)(2)(B) of that Act. (3) 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 paragraph (2), 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). (b) Presumption of unlawful merger or acquisition (1) Sense of Congress It is the sense of Congress that— (A) market concentration and the change in market concentration due to a merger or acquisition can be an important indicator of the merger or acquisition’s risk of substantially lessening competition; and (B) in a landmark case, the Supreme Court correctly explained that the intense congressional concern with the trend toward concentration warrants dispensing, in certain cases, with elaborate proof of market structure, market behavior, or probable anticompetitive effects. United States v. Philadelphia National Bank, 374 U.S. 321 (1963). (2) Presumption (A) In general For the avoidance of doubt, the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission shall apply the presumption that an acquisition involving residential property increasing the relevant market share of the acquiring person to more than 30 percent violates the antitrust laws, as defined in subsection (a) of the first section of the Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 12), and that such acquisition constitutes an unfair method of competition under section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 45). (B) Rule of construction The clarification described in subparagraph (A) shall not be read to limit the use of the presumption under that subparagraph in other markets, cast doubt on other presumptions in antitrust enforcement, or suggest that a market share that is less than 30 percent is presumptively lawful.