Especially when those 2nd, 3rd, + properties are being used as passive short term rentals. Observing the state of the housing situation “Hmm there aren’t enough homes for normal families to each have a chance, I should turn this extra property of mine into a vacation rental.” does this make said person a POS?
Perhaps it could be alleviated by some kind of legislation which prevents anyone other than citizens (individuals or families) from purchasing residential zoned property. I’m sure industry would find a way for incorporated entities to then count as “citizens”.
It couldn’t be limited to “citizens”. There are lots of people here legally who are not citizens. There are lots of people here not illegally that this would put on the streets and exacerbate other problems.
Also, you are correct on the corporate entities point. US Supreme Court has already made rulings that corporations have personhood. See Citizens United v. FEC. There is little reason to believe a rule limiting owners of residential property to individuals wouldn’t be twisted by the supreme court to allow the continuation of current state. (Going with the america-centric assumption here, obvs).
And finally, there is a place for corporate-owned residential property that is then rented to individuals. Some people want to rent a house instead of buy. It’s just not nearly the number that the current market is set to accommodate. Just like there are some legitimate applications for heavy-duty, gasoline trucks; but that everyone who has one doesn’t necessarily need one.
I would rather see it controlled via zoning and taxes. E.g., short-term rentals require a certain type of zoning and the quantity of units zoned in that matter has a low cap. And like a progressive tax structure, the more units a person owns to rent, the higher the taxes they have to pay as a disincentive for using other people’s need for shelter as an investment and wealth-generation opportunity.