Housing and Community Development Desk
Housing and Community Development Bills
4 bills in the Housing and Community Development desk, ordered for current relevance and readability.
Housing and Community DevelopmentHR-224-119Latest action: Jan 20, 202629 readersEnacted
Disabled Veterans Housing Support Act
Sponsored by Monica De La Cruz
Under the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, states, local governments, and Indian tribes use income thresholds to determine eligibility for federal housing assistance programs. Currently, when calculating whether someone qualifies as low-income or moderate-income, these entities count all sources of income, including service-connected disability compensation paid by the Department of Veterans Affairs. This means disabled veterans receiving VA disability payments may be deemed ineligible for housing assistance programs because their total income exceeds program limits, even though much of that income is specifically designated to compensate for service-related injuries rather than general earning capacity. The Disabled Veterans Housing Support Act amends section 102(a)(20) of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to require states, units of local government, and Indian tribes to exclude service-connected disability compensation from income calculations when determining eligibility for low-income and moderate-income housing programs. This change means that when assessing whether a disabled veteran qualifies for federal housing assistance, administrators must disregard VA disability payments and count only other income sources. The Department of Veterans Affairs compensation remains excluded regardless of the amount or the veteran's other financial circumstances. The Government Accountability Office must submit a report to Congress within one year examining how service-connected disability compensation is treated across all Department of Housing and Urban Development programs. The report will identify any inconsistencies between the new exclusion requirement and existing HUD program rules, then recommend legislative changes to align other HUD programs with this veteran-focused approach. These recommendations aim to ensure disabled veterans receive consistent treatment across federal housing assistance initiatives and improve access to housing support for veteran populations and underserved communities.
Housing and Community Development
Latest updateJan 20, 2026
Became Public Law No: 119-70.
Housing and Community Development
Housing and Community DevelopmentHR-68-119Latest action: Jan 3, 20253 readersIn Committee
Housing Fairness Act of 2025
Sponsored by Al Green
The Fair Housing Act of 1968 prohibits discrimination in housing based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, and familial status. However, enforcement has relied primarily on complaints filed by individuals who believe they have experienced discrimination. This reactive approach means many discriminatory practices go undetected and undocumented, making it difficult to understand the full scope of housing discrimination across rental markets, home sales, and mortgage lending. Current funding for fair housing enforcement organizations is limited, constraining their ability to investigate patterns of discrimination systematically. The Housing Fairness Act of 2025 directs the Department of Housing and Urban Development to establish a nationwide testing program to proactively detect and measure housing discrimination. HUD shall contract with qualified fair housing organizations to conduct tests that document differences in how renters, home buyers, and mortgage borrowers are treated based on protected characteristics. The bill also increases funding for the Fair Housing Initiatives Program from current levels to $42.5 million annually through fiscal year 2028, with at least 75 percent directed to private enforcement initiatives. Additionally, HUD must issue regulations within 180 days establishing minimum training standards for testers and shall report biennial findings to Congress. Implementation begins immediately upon enactment, with HUD issuing tester training regulations within six months. The $15 million annual authorization for the testing program and $42.5 million for the Fair Housing Initiatives Program run through fiscal year 2028, with funds remaining available until spent. Testing results can be used by HUD, federal agencies, state and local governments, and nonprofit organizations to initiate investigations and enforcement actions. A separate $5 million annual grant program funds nonprofit research into discrimination causes and pilot solutions. These resources will expand HUD's capacity to identify systemic discrimination patterns and enable faster enforcement responses, potentially increasing the number of discrimination cases pursued and settlements reached.
Housing and Community Development
Latest updateJan 3, 2025
Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.
Housing and Community Development
Housing and Community DevelopmentHR-115-119Latest action: Jan 3, 20252 readersIn Committee
No Free Rent for Freeloaders Act of 2025
Sponsored by Andy Biggs
Under current law, public housing agencies must require tenants to participate in community service or self-sufficiency programs as a condition of receiving federally subsidized housing. These requirements, established in the United States Housing Act of 1937, aim to promote tenant engagement and economic independence. However, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has limited mechanisms to track or enforce compliance across the roughly 3,000 public housing agencies nationwide. There is no systematic federal penalty when agencies fail to monitor whether tenants meet these obligations, creating inconsistent enforcement and unclear accountability for how federal housing subsidies are being used. This bill requires the HUD Inspector General to monitor noncompliance annually and calculate the total federal subsidies provided to tenants who failed to meet community service or self-sufficiency requirements. The Inspector General must publish these findings in the Federal Register by September 30 each year. The bill then establishes an automatic financial consequence: HUD's Management and Administration account faces a rescission—a mandatory budget cut—equal to the dollar amount of subsidies provided to noncompliant tenants in the prior fiscal year. This mechanism ties HUD's operational funding directly to enforcement outcomes. Implementation begins in the first fiscal year after enactment. The rescission takes effect on October 15 or upon enactment of HUD's appropriations bill, whichever is later. The funding reduction comes from HUD's central management budget rather than from housing assistance itself, creating pressure on the agency to improve compliance monitoring. Public housing agencies will face indirect incentives to enforce tenant requirements more rigorously, since agency noncompliance directly reduces HUD's administrative capacity. The downstream effect is likely increased documentation and enforcement activity by local housing authorities, though the bill does not specify how agencies should improve compliance or provide additional resources for monitoring.
Housing and Community Development
Latest updateJan 3, 2025
Referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on Appropriations, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Housing and Community Development
Housing and Community DevelopmentHR-206-119Latest action: Jan 3, 20250 readersIn Committee
Landlord Accountability Act of 2025
Sponsored by Nydia Velázquez
Under current fair housing law, the Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, and familial status. However, the law does not explicitly protect people based on their source of income—including those using Section 8 rental vouchers, Social Security benefits, child support, or other government assistance. This gap means landlords can legally refuse to rent to voucher holders or people receiving public benefits, even though such refusals effectively exclude low-income families from housing markets. Additionally, some landlords intentionally neglect properties or leave units vacant to discourage voucher users, and complaint mechanisms for renters in federally assisted housing projects remain underfunded and slow. The Landlord Accountability Act amends the Fair Housing Act to prohibit discrimination based on source of income, explicitly including Section 8 vouchers, Social Security, supplemental security income, child support, and other government or nonprofit assistance. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) must add "source of income" as a protected class across all relevant Fair Housing Act sections. The bill also establishes two new civil penalties: owners who intentionally degrade units to disqualify them from federal housing programs face $100,000 penalties per violation plus tenant damages; owners who intentionally leave multifamily units vacant for more than 60 days face $100,000 penalties per 30-day period. Additionally, HUD must establish a Multifamily Housing Complaint Resolution Program to receive and mediate complaints from voucher users and local officials, with results publicly disclosed online and reported annually to Congress. Implementation begins immediately upon enactment, with HUD required to increase staffing for its complaint hotline within 180 days and issue complaint program regulations within 12 months. The bill authorizes $90 million annually through 2035 for the Fair Housing Initiatives Program, $47 million annually for the Fair Housing Assistance Program, and $3 million annually through 2028 for a public awareness campaign. A new tax credit—the Low-Income Housing Maintenance Credit—offers eligible landlords up to $2,500 per unit (capped at $500,000 annually) for maintenance expenses on projects with voucher tenants, provided they resolve complaints within 30 days or receive none. The credit expires after 2035. These provisions create financial incentives for landlord compliance while establishing enforcement mechanisms and complaint infrastructure that did not previously exist.
Housing and Community Development
Latest updateJan 3, 2025
Referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, and the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Housing and Community Development