Housing

This bill permanently extends the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC), a federal tax incentive that encourages private investment in low-income communities. It directly affects community development entities (CDEs) that channel capital into underserved neighborhoods for projects like housing, healthcare, and businesses. Key provisions include permanently extending the credit beyond 2025, adding annual inflation adjustments to the credit amount starting in 2026, and ensuring the credit isn't reduced by the alternative minimum tax for investments made after December 2024. The changes apply to taxable years beginning after December 2024, providing long-term stability for community development financing.

The HOME Expansion Act allows jurisdictions that don't receive other federal housing funds to use HOME program money for infrastructure like water lines, roads, and sidewalks directly tied to affordable housing projects. It raises the income eligibility limit for affordable homeownership from 95% to 110% of area median income and requires new long-term affordability measures, such as shared equity ownership models or community land trusts. The bill also creates exceptions for military members (waiving income rules during deployment) and heirs of deceased homeowners to maintain housing affordability. These changes apply to housing assisted under the HOME program and related tax credit programs.

# Summary of "Renewing Opportunity in the American Dream to Housing Act of 2025" This comprehensive housing legislation contains multiple provisions aimed at reforming housing programs across the United States, with key focuses on: 1. **Housing Appraisal Standards** - Establishing requirements for appraisers and mortgage appraisal standards. 2. **Rural Housing Service Reforms** (Section 502) - Includes: - Preservation and revitalization of multifamily rental housing projects - Modifications to loan procedures and rental assistance contracts - Technical improvements to Rural Housing Service technology - Annual reporting requirements on rural housing programs - Adjustments to rural housing voucher amounts 3. **Moving to Work Demonstration Expansion** (Section 503) - Creates an "Economic Opportunity and Pathways to Independence Cohort" with: - Waiver authority for participating public housing agencies - Funding flexibility (up to 5% of housing assistance payments for other uses) - Requirements for ensuring 75% of assisted families are very low-income - Comprehensive reporting requirements 4. **Homelessness Program Reforms** (Section 504) - Includes: - Amendments to Continuum of Care programs - Adjustments to administrative costs for Emergency Solutions Grants - Modifications to Housing Choice Voucher program - Demonstration authority for healthcare and housing collaborations - Streamlined coordinated entry processes 5. **Local Solutions to Homelessness** (Section 505) - Establishes funding cap waiver authority for recipients to better address local homelessness needs. The legislation aims to modernize housing programs, improve housing preservation, increase housing choice, reduce homelessness, and provide greater flexibility to local housing authorities while maintaining affordability standards.

The Downpayment Toward Equity Act of 2025 would create a federal program providing downpayment assistance to first-generation homebuyers purchasing primary residences. The program would allocate $100 billion to states and eligible organizations to cover downpayment, closing costs, and mortgage rate reductions, with assistance capped at $20,000 or 10% of the home's purchase price. To qualify, applicants must be first-generation homebuyers (neither they nor their parents previously owned a home), meet income limits, and complete homeownership counseling. The program includes reporting requirements to track demographic data and ensure fair housing outcomes, with funds available until expended.

The Build Now Act of 2025 adjusts Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) allocations for eligible cities and urban counties under Section 106 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974. It calculates a "housing growth improvement rate" for each recipient - measuring changes in housing unit growth - and rewards jurisdictions with the highest improvement rates by adding bonus funds to their CDBG allocation, while reducing allocations by 10% for those below the median rate. The bill applies to metropolitan areas meeting specific criteria (e.g., not experiencing disasters, having sufficient zoning authority) and requires the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to publish annual reports on these rates and distribution. Funding adjustments take effect three years after enactment and run through 2043.

# Summary of the American Housing and Economic Mobility Act of 2025 This comprehensive legislation addresses housing affordability, civil rights, financial inclusion, and tax policy through multiple titles: **Fair Housing Expansion (Title I):** - Expands protections under the Fair Housing Act to include gender identity, sexual orientation, marital status, source of income, and veteran status - Requires housing providers receiving federal assistance to comply with enhanced accessibility standards (twice as many units must be accessible) **Community Reinvestment Act Strengthening (Title II):** - Requires banks to form diverse Community Advisory Committees in each metropolitan area - Mandates regular biannual consultations between bank executives and community advisory groups - Requires detailed data collection on lending practices by demographic factors (including race, ethnicity, and disability status) - Establishes new requirements for banks to analyze and report on disparities in access to credit **Veterans' Housing Access (Title III):** - Expands eligibility for VA home loans to include direct descendants of veterans who served between June 22, 1944, and April 11, 1968, who are first-time, first-generation homebuyers **Public Housing Improvements (Title IV):** - Requires public housing agencies to analyze where participants live and develop strategies to increase access to higher-opportunity neighborhoods - Mandates regional collaboration among housing agencies to reduce disparities in access - Requires HUD to develop mapping tools to help agencies analyze neighborhood access **Estate Tax Reforms (Title V):** - Increases estate tax rates for large estates (over $13 million) - Reduces the basic exclusion amount from $13 million to $3.5 million - Imposes a 10% surtax on estates exceeding $1 billion - Increases the exclusion limit for farm real property from $750,000 to $3 million - Increases the exclusion for land subject to conservation easements from $500,000 to $2 million - Creates a new 5-8% surcharge on high-income estates and trusts **Additional Provisions:** - Strengthens credit union service to underserved areas - Raises public welfare caps for banks to increase investments in low-income communities - Requires new data collection and reporting requirements for financial institutions This legislation represents a significant expansion of housing rights, financial inclusion, and tax policy reforms aimed at reducing disparities in access to housing and financial services while reforming the estate tax system.

This bill amends federal housing laws to prevent federally assisted housing programs from banning residents based on marijuana use that complies with state law. It removes prohibitions against "use, distribution, possession, sale, or manufacture of marijuana" that follows state regulations, affecting public housing agencies and residents in federally assisted housing. Key provisions require housing authorities to accept state-compliant marijuana use as non-prohibited activity and mandate smoke-free rules for marijuana in housing similar to existing tobacco policies. The bill explicitly states that state law governs marijuana activity in housing, not federal restrictions.

This bill establishes a permanent Rural Housing Preservation and Revitalization Program to help maintain affordable housing in rural areas. It provides mechanisms for loan restructuring, extends rental assistance contracts for up to 20 years, and streamlines application processing for housing assistance. The bill also adjusts rural housing voucher programs to better respond to tenant needs, including allowing for interim and annual reviews of voucher amounts based on income changes. These changes directly affect low-income rural residents living in federally assisted housing and the housing providers who manage these properties.

This bill modernizes loan limits for manufactured and modular homes under the National Housing Act. It significantly increases funding caps - raising single-family improvement loans to $150,000 (from $75,000), single-section manufactured home purchases to $195,322 (from $106,405), and multi-section home+lot financing to $238,699 (from $149,782). The bill also adds new provisions for accessory dwelling unit construction loans and requires annual indexing of loan limits based on HUD’s data. Additionally, it mandates a HUD study on factory-built housing cost efficiency, including manufacturing savings, maintenance costs, and potential uses beyond single-family homes.

HR 7107, the Accountability for NYCHA Act of 2026, mandates an investigation by HUD's Inspector General into New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) compliance with its 2019 agreement to fix housing deficiencies. The investigation will review NYCHA's progress on safety issues like lead paint and mold, assess oversight by the city-appointed Monitor, survey housing conditions, and examine potential fraud or violations. The Inspector General must submit a report to Congress within 180 days detailing findings and recommending actions to compel NYCHA to meet its legal obligations. This bill directly affects NYCHA, HUD, and the city Monitor, focusing on accountability rather than creating new housing standards. It is procedural, requiring an investigation and report, not altering housing policies.