Prison for purchasing a house: Why some buyers in this state are terrified of getting on the property ladder and claim 'we're being treated like spies'

Wannabe homebuyers have revealed how they are scared of snapping up property in Florida because they're being 'treated like spies' by officials.

Jin Bian, 31, from the Chinese city of Nanjing, aired such concerns months after being told he could be hit with prison time for buying a house in Tampa.

Other Floridians said the same - almost a year after Ron DeSantis made it a crime for Chinese nationals without citizenship to purchase property there.

The new law prohibits citizens of China from buying houses anywhere in the state, especially near military installations, airports and refineries. 

This week, Bian and others expressed outrage over being treated like foreign agents - with a suit already in the works to reverse the law. Bian is a software engineer at CitiGroup, and a recipient of a visa that allows firms to poach foreign workers.

Wannabe homebuyers in Flordia have revealed how they are scared of snapping up property due to them being 'treated like spies' by local officials, according to a new report

Echo King, a US citizen born in China, is among them, and spoke to CNN this week to express her discontent

'That was really shocking to me. It's just purchasing property,' he told CNN of how he was told he could be hit with a prison sentence due to Florida Senate Bill 264, along with the seller.

'Once I learned that, I didn't even bother to look anymore.'

'We're ordinary people. We don't talk about these political things,' he added of how he took offense.

'I think 99.99 percent of people here just want to have a good life,' he went on, now ready to relocate after some 12 years. 

'I don't think California will ever have this kind of law.'

Others expressed similar sentiments, almost a year after SB 264 - which also applies Russian, Iranian, North Korean, Cuban, Venezuelan and Syrian citizens - went into effect on July 1.

They all live on Florida soil but are considered foreign, preventing them from making property purchases unless they have a green card.

Echo King, a US citizen born in China who also works as president of the Florida Asian American Justice Alliance, is among them, and also spoke to the outlet to express her discontent.

'We feel like we're different from everyone else because of this type of law,' the immigration attorney based in Orlando said.   

'We feel like we're not welcome.'

Others included Jin Bian, a 31-year-old CitiGroup software engineer from the Chinese city of Nanjing, and Susan Li, a 47-year-old small business owner based in Orlando

She's been at the forefront of the battle against SB 264, which she said is discriminatory due to it targeting people from certain countries.  

Passionate about assisting immigrants to achieve their American dreams, she said the law is affecting these people's livelihoods, as well as their businesses.  

Susan Li is among this class, even though she has a green card, and is thus exempt from the law.

But the guidance, the 47-year-old small business owner in Orlando pointed out, does not account for discrimination, which she said she has been subject to since the bill was passed.

'I thought maybe it's too much to bother, so I'm not looking right now,' she said, revealing how she too had been looking for a new home when the law passed.

 'No matter if I have a green card or I'm a citizen, I still have a Chinese face,' she said. 'I really felt the discrimination'.

Citing potential legal complications that could arise, she described how she and her family have halted their housing search for now, and for the foreseeable future.

Clay Zhu, an attorney who received the California Lawyer of the Year Award for his work in civil rights in 2022, also aired a stark stance against the law stopping the purchases, signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis

She added that with her daughter now set to go off to college in a couple years, she has no more ties to the Sunshine State, and is now set to move.

Clay Zhu, an attorney who received the California Lawyer of the Year Award for his work in civil rights in 2022, also aired a stark stance against the law.

'Florida has gone far beyond what is necessary to combat the so-called CCP [Chinese Communist Party] influence,' he said.

'We think this is a form of discrimination based on race, based on national origin and based on visa status.'

He has teamed up with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to sue the state, as other states mull similar laws.

The lawsuit is currently making its way through the federal courts, as Zhu likened DeSantis's law to the first significant guidance restricting immigration into the US, 1882's Chinese Exclusion Act.

'People feel as if they are being treated as spies or agents of the Chinese government,' Zhu said. 'It's very unfair and also very un-American.'

He went on to describe how some mortgage lenders and brokers in the state have begun refusing to work with clients with Chinese passports - even if they are lawful residents.

A DailyMail.com-made graphic shows the percentage of Chinese investors snapping up property in certain states. Florida sports one of the highest rates, beaten only by New York and California

A July study found that Chinese nationals were the largest foreign buyers of US homes in dollars between March 2021 and March 2022

Teresa Jin, a local mortgage lender, elaborated on this further, telling CNN how she no longer works with clients who are not permanent residents or citizens of the US due to uncertainty over the new law.

Under SB 264, citizens of not only China, but Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela and Syria are prohibited from buying property within 10 miles of any 'military installation or critical infrastructure facility' in Florida.

The law goes a step further however for Chinese citizens without the permanent right to live in the country, barring the group from purchasing property anywhere in the state.

But a grey area exists around the law's definition of 'domiciled', and some lenders like Jin have decided against any business with Chinese nationals as a result.

That's because she's wary of any unseen legal repercussions, she said, adding that she's lost out on loans snapped up by less careful lenders as a result.

'The law has caused us so much confusion,' she said. 'It definitely hurts business.'

The saga surrounding Florida and Chinese citizens and immigrants began last year, when DeSantis signed the divisive bill into law. 

'Florida is taking action to stand against the United States' greatest geopolitical threat — the Chinese Communist Party (CCP),' he said - citing incidents like the Chinese surveillance balloon shot down over Montana earlier that year.

Florida approved several new laws that target China, due to fears of espionage. Above, Chinese president Xi Jinping

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, pictured with President Joe Biden, has banned Chinese investors from buying property in his country, after immigrants - mostly from Asia - caused property prices to shoot up nearly 40 percent in the country

The US shot down a Chinese spy balloon that hovered over nuclear silos in Montana last year

In addition, apps like TikTok have come under scrutiny due to their ties to China.

As for land, the country currently owns just under 350,000 acres of agricultural and non-agricultural land across the US - less than one percent of the country's foreign-owned land.

The law, meanwhile, is currently being challenged in court, as lawmakers continue to warn that Chinese land purchases - particularly those that are agricultural - pose a threat to the US.

In Florida, foreign investors own 5.7 percent of privately owned farmland, according to the US Department of Agriculture. 

Last year, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau banned foreign investors from buying homes in Canada as a means to cool down its overheated housing market. Most of the country's foreign investors are from China and India. 

The ban came into effect on January 1, 2023, after immigrants pushed property prices up 38 percent. Census data released in October revealed immigrants now make up 23 percent of Canada's population, with most coming from Asia.