Eleventh Circuit Upholds Florida's Foreign Property Ban as 26 States Enact New Restrictions on 'Adversarial' Buyers

On July 1, 2026, a new reality set in for real estate agents in Indiana: under Senate Enrolled Act 256, selling or even leasing a home to a citizen of six designated foreign nations became a violation of state law, punishable by forced divestiture. The legislation transformed routine property transactions into potential legal minefields, requiring new layers of background checks and compliance.[6]

Indiana is not acting alone. Across the country, 26 states have now enacted legislation restricting property ownership by citizens and businesses from "adversarial" nations—primarily China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, and Venezuela. The laws range from targeted bans on agricultural land to sweeping prohibitions on residential purchases, fundamentally altering the landscape of American real estate.[3]

The legal foundation for these state-level bans was recently fortified by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. In a closely watched case, Shen v. Simpson, a divided panel allowed Florida's pioneering Senate Bill 264 to remain in effect.[4]

The court ruled that the plaintiffs—Chinese citizens living and working in Florida—lacked standing to challenge the purchase restrictions because they were legally domiciled in the state, placing them outside the statute's technical scope. By dismissing the challenge on jurisdictional grounds, the court left the core of the law intact.[4]

Florida's law, which took effect in 2023, prohibits foreign principals from designated countries from acquiring agricultural land or property within 10 miles of military installations or critical infrastructure. It also includes a near-total ban on purchases by Chinese domiciliaries who are not U.S. citizens or permanent residents. Buyers must now sign affidavits under penalty of perjury attesting that they are not prohibited purchasers.[2]

The Eleventh Circuit's decision applied a "rational basis" review to the state's national security claims, deferring to Florida's asserted interest in protecting critical infrastructure. This ruling has effectively cleared the runway for other states to implement even broader restrictions without facing immediate constitutional roadblocks.[5]

In Texas, Senate Bill 17 imposes civil and criminal penalties against foreign individuals associated with designated countries who acquire real estate. Idaho recently expanded its law to force divestiture of covered land by the end of 2025. And South Carolina's proposed SB 1065 seeks to ban all non-resident aliens from owning or leasing any property in the state.[3][6]

Civil rights organizations have strongly condemned the legislative wave. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which represented the plaintiffs in the Florida case, argues that the laws violate the Equal Protection Clause and the Fair Housing Act.[2]

Advocates warn that the restrictions legitimize xenophobia, ensnare lawful residents, and cast a cloud of suspicion over anyone of Asian descent seeking to buy property. They draw parallels between the current legislation and the discriminatory "alien land laws" of the early 20th century.[2][3]

Despite the legal pushback, the momentum is moving upward to the federal level. In May 2026, U.S. Representative Chip Roy introduced the "Ban Chinese Communist and Islamist Home Ownership Act," which would ban foreign adversaries from buying American homes nationwide and force the divestment of current holdings within two years.[1]

For the everyday property owner, the abstract geopolitical tension between Washington and Beijing has now materialized at the closing table. Sellers must navigate a patchwork of state laws, while buyers from affected nations find themselves increasingly locked out of the American real estate market.[6]