Senate Passes Housing Bill 89-10, CLARITY Act Advances

The Senate voted 89-10 on March 12 to pass the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act. Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott and Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren co-led the bipartisan bill. The legislation aims to increase housing supply by easing zoning restrictions, expanding affordable housing funding, and imposing new regulations on institutional investors that buy single-family homes. The bill would require large investors to disclose their single-family home portfolios and limit purchases in certain markets. It also includes provisions to support manufactured housing, with funding for new units and tenant protections.

The House passed its own amended version by a 396-13 margin on May 20. The two chambers must now reconcile their differences before sending a final bill to the president. The reconciliation process could take weeks or months.

The housing bill contains no language related to cryptocurrency or blockchain. A separate piece of legislation, the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, is moving through Congress on a parallel track. That bill would set rules for tokenized securities. Real estate tokenization is a practical application of those rules, splitting property ownership into digital tokens on a blockchain and allowing fractional investment.

The CLARITY Act has not yet reached a floor vote. Its timeline is independent of the housing bill.