Chinese Property Ownership as a National Security Problem

March 1, 2024

Lawfare

Full article available here.

Introduction

"More laws are prohibiting Chinese people from property ownership, citing national security concerns. Is that legislation going too far?

On May 22, 2023, four Chinese nationals and one local real estate company filed a suit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida challenging Florida law SB 264, enacted July 1, 2023, which prohibits land ownership by Chinese individuals who are non-U.S. citizens and resident in the state of Florida. In this first-of-its-kind case, the claimants argue that the Florida law violates equal protection, due process, federal preemption, and the Fair Housing Act. On Aug. 17, 2023, Judge Allen Winsor, a Trump appointee, denied the preliminary injunction, and the claimants subsequently appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, which, in February, granted a partial injunction against the Florida law pending appeal."