Establishes the end predatory home flipping act

Showing the cosponsors who are on Agora, A to Z. The official record may list more.

• Democratic23

Shown in neutral colors by design; Agora is non-partisan.

◆ The sponsor's argument

Why Julia Salazar says this is needed

New York City is facing an enormous housing crisis fueled primarily by aggressive real estate speculation in working-class communities and communities of color. This crisis pre-dated the COVID-19 pandemic, but the pandemic made it especially difficult for working, low and moder- ate-income New Yorkers to maintain housing stability as hundreds of thousands of workers lost income and struggled to pay their rent and mortgages. According to a November 2024 report, "Flipping Out - How Home Flipping reduces Affordability in NYC Neighborhoods of Color", issued by the Pratt Center for Community Development, home flipping is most prevalent in communities of color (the community districts with the top ten rates of home flipping citywide were each more than 90% people of color), home flippers target scarce affordable homes and neighborhoods and then drive up the prices of those homes to levels unaffordable to most New Yorkers, and home flipping is linked to high rates of displacement, eviction, and foreclosure. This bill seeks to create more opportunity and equity in the housing market for first time homebuyers by creating a disincentive for predato- ry real estate speculators to engage in the destabilizing conduct of home flipping. This is accomplished by imposing additional taxes on certain property sold within two years of purchase. Property flipping, where an investor purchases a home and resells it for a quick profit, drives prices up for would-be homeowners, increases property taxes, and provokes harassment of homeowners, who are overwhelmingly Black and Latinx, in rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods. Flipping is lucrative for investors, who target financially vulnerable homeowners (often seniors) and seek to dislodge them from their valuable homes at low prices. These unwanted and sometimes deceptive solicita- tions of homeowners are an annoyance at best, but can also involve outright fraud, and result in the displacement of longtime homeowners. When low-income homeowners are bought out and leave the neighborhoods, there is a ripple effect on renters as the often affordable rents in these properties are increased by investors looking to maximize profit. Urgent action is necessary to ensure that low and moderate-income New Yorkers have a fighting chance to remain in NYC. This bill seeks to level the playing field by taxing home flipping. This bill is supported by numerous community-based organizations and advocacy groups, includ- ing: the Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development, Inc., Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation, Center for NYC Neighbor- hoods, Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation, Neighborhood Housing Services of 3amaica, Legal Aid Society, MFY Legal Services, Chinese-Am- erican Planning Council, the Coalition for Community Advancement, Pratt Center for Community Development, members of the NYC City Council, and many other community-based organizations and leaders. RACIAL AND SOCIAL JUSTICE IMPACT: The detrimental impact of predatory speculation and home flipping is particularly experienced by working-class communities and communities of color. The community districts with the top ten rates of home flipping citywide from 2019 through 2023 were each more than 90% people of color. In some communities in NYC one-third of all homes purchased in recent years were purchased by real estate investors, mostly for the purpose of flipping. In addition, in the past decade, 40% of homes in NYC were purchased by cash buyers.

This is the sponsor's own case for the bill, quoted from their memorandum. It is not Agora's description of what the bill does.