Can Ohio Stop You from Transferring Your Deed to a Green Card Holder?

Ohio lawmakers are debating a bill that could restrict non-citizens, including green card holders, from purchasing land in large segments of Ohio.

It would be the most severe law of its kind.

What’s the Point of This?

The sponsors of the proposed law (House Bill 1 and Senate Bill 88) want to limit deed holders from selling farmland, and land within 25 miles of essential infrastructure, to companies or individuals from a list of countries including China, Russia, and Iran.

One of the sponsors of House Bill 1 told Newsweek the bill intends to “keep our power stations, water treatment plants, and gas lines safe from surveillance and espionage.”

It also extends its 25-mile no-go area around transit hubs, putting a great deal of Ohio locations off-limits to numerous U.S. residents.

Under the sponsors’ proposal, keeping “foreign adversaries” out of property deed transactions would involve barring even lawful permanent residents from signing purchase agreements.

This would limit who can transfer deeds to whom. It’s also possible that key research projects and companies that depend on international experts will suffer. At least in Ohio, that is.

Restrictions on the right to transfer deeds raise red flags. So do laws that strip rights and privileges from people who’ve done nothing themselves to deserve any penalty. Similar lawmaking in Florida is already drawing legal actions that claim it is unconstitutional.

A Push in Multiple States

One of the bill’s sponsors told Newsweek that if a current green card holder has real estate, that person’s ownership will be “grandfathered in.” But the bill’s language indicates that it could even upend settled expectations of people who have already lawfully bought property. At least the Senate’s version says impacted noncitizens would have to give up their properties within two years.

Ohio’s House Bill 1 is part of a push in several states to scrutinize non-citizen land ownership, the Ohio REALTORS® website states. As the House Public Safety Committee goes over the bill text, the real estate agents’ group points out some problems:

• To the extent this legislation applies to permanent residents, their households will be prevented from buying homes.

• The bill describes critical infrastructure in a sweeping manner. It could cover most Ohio real estate, far exceeding the bill’s stated interest in high-risk sites.

• Ordinary buyers and sellers and even local officials would have difficulty complying. There is no public map of the infrastructure to which the bill applies.

• Parties to a transaction wouldn’t be notified in advance if they were transferring deeds in affected areas. People could be punished for innocent involvement in newly outlawed deed transfers.

Presumably, new infrastructure could be created — putting limits on practically all of Ohio. Many people and groups are raising additional questions. Among the bill’s opponents are the Chinese Association of Greater Toledo, as well as OPAWL, which consists of Asian, Asian American, or Pacific Islander (AAPI) feminists, and also YUSRA, a grassroots Muslim-led coalition promoting equal opportunity.

Miles and Miles of Texas

In Texas, Senate Bill 17 restricts land purchases by certain foreigners characterized as national security risks. One of the bill’s proponents says it’s about “securing Texas land and natural resources and making sure that this precious resource does not fall prey to adversarial nations and oppressive regimes that wish to do us harm.”

It was amended to exempt lawful permanent residents. But some important amendments were abandoned. Medical students and researchers on visas, as well as performers and athletes, have not been exempted, for example. So, here again, key research projects and companies that attract and depend on international talent would be hurt by the bill.

International buyers aren’t exactly descending on Texas real estate, but to Abraham George, who leads the Texas Republicans, the bill is a priority. Lily Trieu, who leads Asian Texans for Justice, says the bill is making people anxious that racial profiling is being etched into the law.

The Texas House already enacted a law letting the governor decide what countries to name on the list of international risks. Federally listed national security threats are China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea. Under Texas laws, the list of countries designated as risks could keep growing. That means one person, the governor, could receive “unfettered power to add whatever country he wants to in this bill,” says Rep. Gene Wu, who chairs the state’s House Democratic Caucus.

“This is the definition of overreach.”

Once innocent parties are punished unfairly for the positions taken by foreign governments, political resentment and a sense of injustice is likely to ensue. This could bring a political backlash that impacts the lawmakers in the 2026 midterm elections.

International Buyers Steer Away From Florida’s Condo Market

Agents who work in Miami-Dade, Broward, Martin, and Palm Beach counties have issued some startling statistics. Condo sales to international buyers in these formerly bustling Florida markets have dropped to just 10% of deed transfers last year, per the Miami Association of REALTORS®.

In 2018, half the condo sales included international buyers. Many of them were from Latin American countries. Familiar weather wasn’t the state’s only draw. International buyers wanted to invest in the United States because it was a safe market. In their home countries, governments might have confiscated their property.

As condo analyst Peter Zalewski told The New York Times, “foreign buyers bailed out the South Florida condo market” 15 or so years back, after the housing crash.

Now, the Florida condo market is dealing with older infrastructure, fiercer hurricanes, and a rising sea level. There’s talk of a condo bubble, because the pool of interested buyers is so quickly evaporating.

Can Florida depend on international buyers to prop up the market and pay exorbitant insurance bills? Unlikely, says Zalewski.

“Not only are they still dealing with the currency issue, but add in the immigration policy and the disrespect.”

Overbroad and zealous scrutiny of international residents under the banner of national security creates its own kind of harms.