This Land is My Land (and Definitely Not Yours): Special Interests and Restrictions on Foreign Land Ownership

Authors

Matthew McGrenera, Texas A&M University School of Law

Publication Date

Fall 2025

First Page

1127

Document Type

Comment

Abstract

A wave of legislation preventing and limiting land ownership by foreigners is making impact across the United States. Unfortunately, restrictions on land ownership have often been vulnerable to serving special interests rather than the noble interest they are “intended” to serve. Special interests plague the suboptimal legislation that many states are adopting. Restrictions on foreign land ownership are not unique to the United States, and many jurisdictions around the world have taken unique approaches to this type of legislation and regulation. That being said, none are perfect and many fall victim to the classic bootleggers and Baptists story in which the noble intentions are overshadowed by special interests. The United States must acknowledge the vulnerability of this type of legislation and seek to avoid the common characteristics that historically limit the optimality of legislation that limits foreigners’ right to purchase and own land. A failure to do so has great potential to result in the same suboptimal results already seen in state legislation and across the globe..

Repository Citation

Matthew McGrenera, This Land is My Land (and Definitely Not Yours): Special Interests and Restrictions on Foreign Land Ownership, 46 U. Pa. J. Int’l L. 1127 (2025).
Available at: https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/jil/vol46/iss4/5