by NALC staff
During the 2025 legislative session, most states considered at least one bill aimed at enacting or amending a foreign ownership law. Of these, six states–Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Nebraska, Tennessee, and Utah–adopted amendments to existing laws, while three states–Kentucky, Texas, and West Virginia–enacted new restrictions for the first time. The measures varied in scope, with some making targeted definitional changes and others expanding the law’s reach to cover new property types, such as mineral rights, forestland, and land near military installations or other critical infrastructure.
This article summarizes select states that enacted or amened a foreign ownership restriction during the 2025 legislative session.
Idaho
in 2025, Idaho lawmakers passed House Bill 356 (“H356”) and Senate Bill 1149 (“S1149”), making significant changes to the state’s foreign ownership law first (Idaho Code § 55-103) enacted in 2023. Prior law applied only to foreign governments and foreign government-owned entities, prohibiting them from acquiring Idaho agricultural land and containing no enforcement provisions.
H356 broadened the restriction to cover individuals, business entities, governments and officials, and political parties and members from a “foreign adversary” country–whether governmental or non-governmental. The prohibition now extends beyond agricultural land to include forestland, water rights, mining claims, and mineral rights. The “foreign adversary” list, as of January 1, 2025, includes China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Syria, and Venezuela.
Two provisions set Idaho apart from other states. First, foreign principals holding covered land or rights must divest by December 28, 2025. Second, Idaho became the first state to authorize whistleblowers to report violations, with a financial reward of 30% of proceeds from a resulting divestiture.
S1149 created enforcement authority for the Idaho Office of Attorney General, requiring investigations and allowing divestment actions against violators. Both laws took effect July 1, 2025.
For more detail, see NALC’s Whistleblowers, Divestment, and Disclosure: Idaho Enacts Amendment to State’s Foreign Ownership Law, available here.
Kentucky
Before 2025, Kentucky’s only foreign ownership restriction–requiring property owned by a nonresident alien to escheat to the state after eight years–was narrow and likely not enforceable as written. Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 381.300. With the enactment of House Bill 315 (“HB 315”) (codified under Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 247.018), Kentucky now prohibits nonresident aliens, foreign business entities, and certain persons or entities tied to governments of countries subject to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (“ITAR”) (22 C.F.R. § 126.1) from acquiring any interest, including leasehold interests, in public or private agricultural land.
The list of ITAR countries currently includes China, Iran, North Korea, and Syria. HB 315 is unique in also prohibiting these foreign persons from participating in programs administered by the Kentucky Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Development Board, and Kentucky Agricultural Finance Corporation.
The law provides several exceptions, such as allowing pre-existing holdings, non-agricultural development projects completed within five years, and up to 350 acres for agricultural research and development under a national security agreement with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS”). HB 315 also tasks the Kentucky Department of Agriculture with reviewing federal AFIDA filings to identify possible violations and refer them to the attorney general for enforcement.
HB 315 took effect June 27, 2025.
Texas
On June 20, 2025, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed into law Senate Bill 17 (“SB 17”) (codified under Tex. Prop. Code § 5.251 et seq.), which restricts certain foreign purchases of real property located within the state. Prior to this measure, Texas law did not contain any restriction on foreign ownership of land.
SB 17 prohibits governments, individuals, and entities from “designated countries” from acquiring any interest–including short-term leaseholds–in any category of Texas real property. Designated countries are those identified in recent U.S. Intelligence Community Annual Threat Assessments as posing national security risks, including China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia. The governor may add countries or entities to the list.
Enforcement authority is vested in the Texas Attorney General, with penalties ranging from divestiture to civil fines of at least $250,000 or 50% of the property’s market value, and state jail felony charges for knowing violations.
While SB 17 goes into effect on September 1, 2025, a class action lawsuit has been filed by multiple Chinese national plaintiffs, challenging the constitutionality of the law. The plaintiffs allege the law prevents them from purchasing or renting Texas property because of their protected characteristics (i.e., race, ethnicity, color, and national origin), and thus the law conflicts with the Fair Housing Act. Further, the plaintiffs claim that federal law preempts SB 17 because CFIUS, a sub-agency of the federal government, regulates foreign investments in U.S. real property.
For more, see NALC’s A New Era in Texas Real Estate: Foreign Investment Restriction Under New State Law, available here.
Utah
Utah is one of many states to amend its foreign ownership law during the 2025 legislative session.
Utah first enacted the Restrictions on Foreign Acquisitions of Land Act (codified under Utah Code Ann. §§ 63L-13-101 to 202) in 2023, restricting certain foreign acquisitions of public and private agricultural land and waters. In 2024, the Utah state legislature enacted House Bill 516, expanded the list of restricted foreign entities to include those owned or controlled by the governments of China, Iran, North Korea, or Russia.
House Bill 430 (“HB 430”), enacted in 2025, further amended the law to prohibit any person from purchasing or leasing land in Utah on behalf of a restricted foreign entity. The law specifies two instances where a person purchases or leases Utah land “on behalf of” a restricted foreign entity. First, when a person uses funds provided to them by a restricted foreign entity. Second, when a person acquires the interest in land under the direction of the restricted foreign entity. Thus, a person using funds or under the orders of a restricted foreign entity to acquire Utah land is in violation of the restriction provided under HB 430. This means shell companies–business entities that exist but have no significant operations or assets–will be prohibited from acquiring land on behalf of a restricted foreign entity.
HB 430 took effect on May 7, 2025.
A recently published NALC article discussing the law is available here.
West Virginia
House Bill 2961 (“HB 2961”), enacted April 28, 2025, makes West Virginia one of the newest states in the U.S. with a foreign ownership law. The measure prohibits any “prohibited foreign-party-controlled business” (“PFPCB”) –defined as a business in which 50% or more is owned or operated by a “prohibited foreign party” (“PFP”) –from acquiring or owning any interest in West Virginia real property, including mineral rights. PFPs include the Chinese government and its citizens, along with any foreign governments, entities, or individuals deemed hostile to U.S. interests by state officials.
Unlike almost all states’ foreign ownership laws, HB 2961 applies retroactively. Specifically, this law requires PFPCBs holding land on the effective date of this measure to sell, transfer, or otherwise divest their interest in the property by January 10, 2026. Failure to comply with this divestment requirement allows the West Virginia Attorney General to initiate a civil action against the entity or individual in violation of the law. If a court determines a violation has occurred, the court is required to order the real property be sold through a public auction.
HB 2961 went into effect on July 1, 2025.
An article discussing the specifics of West Virginia’s HB 2961 is available on NALC’s website here.
Conclusion
The 2025 legislative session continued the expansion of state-level restrictions on foreign ownership of land, with 28 states now having some form of restriction–most enacted since 2023. While the laws vary in scope and enforcement procedures, actual enforcement activity remains limited. Whether these measures will significantly deter prohibited foreign investments will depend largely on state enforcement priorities and compliance monitoring in the years ahead.
To read NALC articles discussing foreign investments in U.S. agriculture, click here.
To learn more about foreign ownership of U.S. land, click here.
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