LAWTON – The Oklahoma Legislature is considering a bill that would expand the state’s ban on foreign ownership of land, said Bailey Crotty, deputy director of the Oklahoma Real Estate Commission.
“We’re really trying to circumvent the ag and land purchases by foreign investors,” she said.
Crotty talked about issues facing the real estate industry during the Lawton-Fort Sill Chamber of Commerce’s State of Housing Luncheon, which took place April 22 at the Lawton Country Club.
House Bill 1546 builds on Senate Bill 212, which became law in 2023, Crotty said. That law bars people who are not U.S. citizens from either directly or indirectly, through a business entity or trust, owning land in Oklahoma unless otherwise authorized under current law.
The prohibition does not apply to businesses that engage in regulated interstate commerce, in accordance with federal law.
Under the 2023 law, any deed that is recorded with a county clerk must include an affidavit attesting that the buyer is complying with state laws on foreign ownership of property.
HB 1546 would bar foreign governments, officials or member of an adversarial country’s political parties from owning agricultural land in Oklahoma. The ban would also apply to forest land or any property within 200 miles of a military installation or critical infrastructure plant.
The measure would also prohibit governments from owning land in Oklahoma if they have been sanctioned by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control. China, Iran, North Korea and Russia would be designated as foreign government adversaries.
HB 1546 was designed to close loopholes in the 2023 law, Crotty said.
“If you have enough money, if you have enough attorneys, if you have enough power, there are ways to circumvent requiring an affidavit and things like that,” she said. “So really, the Legislature is trying to do the most they can to help prevent that.”
Crotty said the Oklahoma Real Estate Commission supports efforts to prevent foreign buyers from owning agricultural land, but the commission wants to make sure HB 1546 does not block people from buying residential property.
“For instance, a lot of doctors might be looking for hospitals to work at or universities,” she said. “And if there’s barriers to entry for them to buy a house, Oklahoma might not look as appetizing as another state.”