State & Local Housing Finance Agencies

The sections below are the ones this guide leans on, in the order they matter most. Each links to the full plain-English breakdown and the enrolled text.

• Sec. 501reformHOME Investment Partnerships Reauthorization and Reform ActA top-to-bottom modernization of HOME, the block grant that states and larger localities use for affordable rental and homeownership housing. It permanently authorizes the program, raises the income and price limits for homeownership assistance, lets non-CDBG participating jurisdictions fund infrastructure next to HOME or LIHTC housing, exempts several activity types from NEPA review, relieves small jurisdictions from Section 3, and gives HUD stronger enforcement tools. Most changes are self-executing; HUD owes two rulemakings within one year.Read the breakdown
• Sec. 202pilotWhole-Home Repairs ActAuthorizes a HUD pilot that funds states, localities, and Tribes ("implementing organizations") to run whole-home repair programs: grants to homeowners at or below 80 percent of AMI (or income-eligible for Medicaid, CHIP, SSI, SNAP, or TANF) and loans — which may be forgivable — to small landlords for accessibility, habitability, and energy or weatherization repairs. Landlords must keep units affordable and cap rent increases for at least three years. The pilot ends October 1, 2031 and depends on appropriations.Read the breakdown
• Sec. 208authorizationInnovation FundAuthorizes $200 million a year for FY2027–FY2031 for competitive HUD grants to metropolitan cities, urban counties, other local governments, and Tribes that can show an "objective improvement in housing supply growth" under a HUD methodology published for comment at least 90 days before each NOFO. Winners may spend on CDBG-eligible activities, RAISE-type transportation projects, or local initiatives that expand "attainable housing" (≤120% AMI, majority ≤60% AMI). At least 25 grants a year of $250,000 to $10 million, with priority for innovative pro-supply policies. Nothing lets HUD preempt local zoning.Read the breakdown
• Sec. 209grantAccelerating Home Building ActAuthorizes HUD grants to local governments, municipal membership organizations, and Tribes to select pre-reviewed designs — "pattern books" — for small mixed-income housing types of up to 25 units (ADUs, duplexes through fourplexes, cottage courts, townhouses, multiplexes) so builders can get faster, more predictable approvals. At least 10 percent of each year’s funds go to rural areas, and a grantee that has not adopted its designs within five years may have to repay. Grants may not fund construction and depend on appropriations.Read the breakdown
• Sec. 210pilotRevitalizing Empty Structures Into Desirable Environments (RESIDE) ActAdds a new Section 227 to the HOME statute authorizing a FY2027–FY2031 pilot of competitive grants to HOME participating jurisdictions to convert vacant and abandoned commercial and industrial buildings — warehouses, factories, malls, hotels — into "attainable housing." Grants of $1 million to $10 million apply in any year with at least $100 million appropriated; priority goes to distressed communities, Opportunity Zones, consolidated-plan needs, and jurisdictions that have cut regulatory barriers to conversion. HUD gets broad waiver authority except for fair housing, nondiscrimination, labor, and environmental rules.Read the breakdown
• Sec. 211reformHousing Affordability ActRoughly quadruples the statutory per-unit mortgage limits for FHA’s multifamily insurance programs (Sections 207, 213, 220, 221(d)(4), 231, and 234) — for example, the Section 207 limits move from $38,025–$85,328 to $167,310–$375,443 — and switches annual indexing to the Census Bureau’s Price Deflator Index of Multifamily Residential Units Under Construction, measured March to March, beginning July 1, 2025. The FHA Commissioner must study the effects and report within three years.Read the breakdown
• Sec. 213reformBuild Now ActTies a slice of CDBG entitlement money to housing production. Starting with the third full fiscal year after enactment and running through FY2043, HUD computes each metropolitan city’s and urban county’s "housing growth improvement rate" — a normalized index: the last five years’ average annual unit growth minus the prior five years’, divided by the sum of their absolute values. Recipients below the median rate lose 10 percent of their allocation, and that money is redistributed as bonuses to at-or-above-median and "extremely high-growth" (4 percent a year or more) recipients in proportion to their recent unit growth. Low-cost, high-vacancy, recently disaster-declared, and no-zoning-authority jurisdictions are exempt.Read the breakdown
• Sec. 105pilotFHA Small-Dollar MortgagesAuthorizes (but does not require) HUD, through the FHA Commissioner, to launch a pilot within one year to expand access to mortgages of $100,000 or less on one- to four-unit principal residences. Tools can include direct payments to lenders, adjusted FHA terms and costs, borrower grants for down payment, closing, appraisal, and title insurance, outreach, and lender technical assistance. FHA must report annually to Congress, including a 10-year look-back and an analysis of risk to the MMI Fund.Read the breakdown
• Sec. 303reformProperty Improvement and Manufactured Housing Loan Modernization ActRaises FHA Title I loan limits substantially: $75,000 for single-family (including manufactured home) improvement loans; $150,000 per structure and $37,500 per unit for multifamily improvements; $106,405 (single-section) and $195,322 (multi-section) for manufactured homes; $149,782 and $238,699 for home-plus-lot; and $43,377 for a lot alone. It makes accessory dwelling unit construction an eligible Title I purpose, lets terms run up to 30 years, lets HUD set and index limits by notice, and orders a HUD study of offsite (manufactured and modular) construction cost-effectiveness.Read the breakdown
• Sec. 304grantPRICE ActCodifies HUD’s PRICE program as new Section 123 of the Housing and Community Development Act, captioned "Preservation and Reinvestment for Community Enhancement" (HUD’s administrative name for the program does include "Initiative"): competitive grants, subject to appropriations, to resident-owned communities, local governments, housing authorities, CDFIs, nonprofits, Tribes, the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, states, and owner-operators for infrastructure, home repair and replacement, acquisition, planning, and resident services in manufactured housing communities affordable at or below 120 percent of AMI. Priority goes to projects that primarily benefit low- and moderate-income residents and lock in long-term affordability. The program sunsets seven years after enactment.Read the breakdown
• Sec. 405reformChoice in Affordable Housing ActStreamlines Housing Choice Voucher inspections. A unit in a LIHTC, HOME-assisted, or USDA Rural Housing Service-assisted property that passed a physical inspection in the prior 12 months is deemed to meet HCV inspection requirements if the PHA can obtain the results; HUD may allow remote or video inspections in rural or small areas if they are thorough and accurate; and a "new landlord" who has never held a HAP contract may ask the PHA to pre-inspect a unit — a pass counts as the initial inspection if a lease is signed within 60 days. PHAs must give newly selected families a list of pre-inspected units.Read the breakdown
• Sec. 504authorizationReforming Disaster Recovery ActPuts the long-running, ad hoc CDBG Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program on a statutory footing — but only for three years. It spells out HUD’s disaster duties, creates a HUD Office of Disaster Management and Resiliency and a Long-Term Disaster Recovery Fund in the Treasury — a HUD-administered account, not a Treasury program — and adds HCDA §124 authorizing formula grants for "catastrophic major disasters" with standing rules on allocation, action plans, low- and moderate-income benefit, mitigation, resilience standards, performance reviews, and expenditure deadlines. HUD owes proposed rules in 6 months and final rules in 1 year; the program sunsets 3 years after enactment.Read the breakdown
• Sec. 203reformCommunity Investment and Prosperity ActRaises the outer ceiling on public welfare investments — the authority national banks and state member banks use for LIHTC and other community development equity — from 15 percent to 20 percent of capital and surplus. It does not change the default aggregate cap of 5 percent plus 5 percent, which remains exceedable only on a Comptroller (or Federal Reserve Board) order that the higher amount poses no significant risk to the deposit insurance fund and the bank is adequately capitalized. The OCC and Federal Reserve must each report to Congress every two years on the number and dollar volume of these investments by purpose, type, bank size, and state.Read the breakdown
• Sec. 301reformHousing Supply Expansion ActRedefines "manufactured home" in the 1974 HUD Code statute as built "with or without a permanent chassis," and directs HUD, with the Manufactured Housing Consensus Committee, to issue standards, a distinct label, data plate, and invoice notation for chassis-less homes. States must certify within one year (two for biennial legislatures) that their laws treat chassis-less homes in parity for financing, titling, insurance, taxes, and installation — and states that do not certify must prohibit their manufacture, installation, or sale. It also makes HUD the sole gatekeeper for manufactured-home energy standards, requiring HUD to adopt minimum standards within a year and update them at least every three years.Read the breakdown
• Sec. 502reformRural Housing Service Reform ActA broad update of USDA Rural Housing Service programs. Its centerpiece permanently establishes the Housing Preservation and Revitalization program (new Housing Act of 1949 §545) and lets USDA keep Section 521 rental assistance in place — for 20-year terms — even after a Section 514/515 loan matures or cannot be restructured ("decoupling"). It also opens Section 504 repair loans to low-income applicants and lets repair loans under $15,000 (up from $7,500) be secured by a promissory note alone, allows Section 502 direct loans to be refinanced or modified out to 40 years, codifies the Rural Community Development Initiative, expands rural voucher eligibility, and orders staffing, technology and timeliness reforms.Read the breakdown
• Sec. 101reformReforms to Housing Counseling and Financial Literacy ProgramsRewrites the rules for HUD’s housing counseling grants. Grantees must be geographically diverse and include organizations serving urban or rural areas, HUD must conduct performance reviews of every funded organization, and HUD may compare each pre-purchase counselor’s borrower default rates against comparable markets — with continuing education, retesting, and eventual suspension of certification for counselors who repeatedly fall short. It also guarantees delinquent FHA, Section 184/184A, VA, and USDA borrowers an opportunity for counseling.Read the breakdown
• Sec. 403reformAppraisal Industry Improvement ActModernizes appraiser rules on two fronts. For FHA: roster appraisers must be state licensed or certified (federal employee appraisers need only one state), meet the USPAP competency rule, and complete an FHA-specific education course, implemented through a HUD mortgagee letter within 240 days that takes effect within 180 days after issuance. For the broader system: FIRREA amendments add state-credentialed trainee appraisers to the national registry, let certified appraisers use trainees while remaining liable, let the Appraisal Subcommittee adjust AMC registry fees and make workforce and training grants to state agencies and post-secondary schools, and add VA, RHS, and HUD to the Appraisal Subcommittee.Read the breakdown
• Sec. 704reformAppraisal Modernization ActTwo appraisal-fairness steps. First, USDA, VA, the FHA Commissioner and FHFA must each require creditors on federally backed mortgage loans to keep a review-and-resolution procedure for consumer-initiated reconsideration of value or a second appraisal on principal-dwelling loans. Second, GAO must report within 240 days on the feasibility of a public, appraisal-level database consolidating data held by FHFA (for the Enterprises), HUD/FHA, USDA and VA — followed by mandatory hearings in both housing committees.Read the breakdown
• Sec. 1001prohibitionHomes Are for People, Not CorporationsThe Act’s most debated provision. Starting 180 days after enactment (January 7, 2027), a "large institutional investor" — a for-profit fund, corporation, partnership, LLC or similar entity in the business of investing in single-family homes that, alone or in concert, has investment control of at least 350 single-family homes — may not purchase or contract to purchase any single-family home (a structure with 2 or fewer units; manufactured homes excluded). Eleven categories of "excepted purchases," including build-to-rent and homes built or renovated for sale, are carved out. Treasury (or DOJ at Treasury’s request) can seek civil penalties of up to $1,000,000 per violation or three times the purchase price, whichever is greater, and HUD must run a renter outreach resource. The prohibition and enforcement provisions are repealed 15 years after they take effect.Read the breakdown
• Sec. 201otherIncreasing Housing in Opportunity ZonesLets HUD give extra weight, in any competitive grant for housing construction, modification, rehabilitation, or preservation, to applicants whose projects are located in or substantially and directly benefit a qualified Opportunity Zone. It is permissive scoring authority, not a set-aside.Read the breakdown
• Sec. 107otherHousing Supply FrameworksDirects HUD’s Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research to publish guidelines and best practices for state and local zoning frameworks — parking minimums, floor-area and height limits, ADUs, by-right duplexes through quadplexes, ministerial review, transit-oriented development, impact fees, a model state zoning-appeals process, and more — after convening a task force and taking Federal Register comment. It also abolishes and repeals HUD’s Regulatory Barriers Clearinghouse. Adoption is voluntary: HUD may not penalize a jurisdiction that declines.Read the breakdown
• Sec. 1202otherNo Additional Funds AuthorizedOne sentence that shapes everything else: "No additional funds are authorized to be appropriated to carry out the requirements of this Act or any amendment made by this Act." The Act creates or reshapes dozens of programs, pilots and studies, but — with the notable exception of the Innovation Fund’s $200 million-a-year authorization in Section 208 — it supplies no new authorized funding, so implementation depends on annual appropriations and existing agency budgets.Read the breakdown

Source: Enrolled bill text, H.R. 6644 (govinfo) (opens in a new tab) · Section numbers as enacted · reviewed Aug 29, 2026

Grouped by when we'd start on each item. Tick things off as you go — progress is saved in your browser.

• LIHTC, the national Housing Trust Fund, HFA bond authority, and credit scoring are not in the Act; the 2025 LIHTC expansion came from a different law.

• The Innovation Fund (Section 208), pattern-book grants (Section 209) and Build Now (Section 213) do not include states or HFAs as eligible applicants — your role there is coordination and gap financing.

• No BABA exemption made it into the final text — only a HUD review and updated guidance. The Senate’s administrative-cost provision did survive: §501(t)(1) strikes NAHA §220(b)(2), so contributions for administrative expenses may now be recognized toward the HOME match.

• Section 501 also raises compliance stakes: HUD may deny reallocations to and reduce payments for noncompliant PJs through the affordability period.

• The RESIDE funding trigger described in some summaries ($1.35 billion in HOME appropriations) does not appear in the enacted text — the statute sets grant sizes only when at least $100 million is appropriated.

• Whether HUD treats the HOME NEPA exemptions and voucher inspection parity as operative before it issues rules or notices was unconfirmed as of August 29, 2026.

• bill textGovInfo (GPO) · Jun 25, 2026H.R. 6644 — Enrolled bill text (21st Century ROAD to Housing Act) (opens in a new tab)

  The enrolled text as sent to the President — the version this hub quotes. Use it to check any section heading, deadline, or dollar figure.

• explainerBipartisan Policy Center · Mar 10, 2026BPC — What’s in the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act? (opens in a new tab)

  BPC’s explainer of the merged Senate text (March 2026). Section numbers here pre-date the House amendment — check against the enrolled text.

• trackerBipartisan Policy Center · Jul 20, 2026BPC — 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act Implementation Tracker (opens in a new tab)

  Deadline-by-deadline tracker of required agency actions (e.g., investor restriction effective Jan 7, 2027; program sunsets from 2031). Updated periodically.

• explainerNational Low Income Housing Coalition · Jul 10, 2026NLIHC — 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act: Impacts on Low-Income Households (July 2026) (opens in a new tab)

  NLIHC’s section-referenced impact analysis of the enacted text — wins, provisions to monitor (RAD, MTW), and what’s still missing.

• explainerSenate Banking Committee · Mar 2, 2026Fact sheet — oversight and accountability (opens in a new tab)

  One-pager on HUD testimony, reporting, and PHA accountability provisions.

• agency guidanceHUD / Federal Register · Aug 13, 2026HUD notice on the CDBG-DR allocation formula (Docket FR-6337-N-02) (opens in a new tab)

  The first action on a statutory deadline under the Act (Sec. 504, Reforming Disaster Recovery Act), published three days after the August 10 due date. Comments due Sep 14, 2026.

• trackerBipartisan Policy CenterBPC — FY2027 HUD appropriations tracker (opens in a new tab)

  Because Sec. 1202 authorizes no new money, most ROAD programs depend on FY2027 appropriations — follow them here.

• trackerNational Association of Affordable Housing Lenders · Jul 12, 2026NAAHL — ROADmap: Implementation Guide and action matrix (opens in a new tab)

  Maps 124 required federal actions (58 due in year one) with a downloadable matrix — the most granular implementation inventory available.

• trackerNational Association of Affordable Housing Lenders · Jul 12, 2026NAAHL ROADmap — full implementation guide (PDF) (opens in a new tab)

  The PDF version of the ROADmap.

• explainerNational Council of State Housing Agencies · Jul 20, 2026NCSHA — Policy Brief Series: Unpacking the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act (opens in a new tab)

  Five HFA-focused briefs: HUD/FHA reforms, pilot programs, HOME changes, environmental review, studies and reports.

• explainerNational Council of State Housing Agencies · Mar 6, 2026NCSHA — Key changes to HOME in the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act (opens in a new tab)

  Details the HOME reauthorization changes (commitment deadline repeal, CHDO recapture, infrastructure eligibility).

• press releaseNational Council of State Housing AgenciesNCSHA applauds enactment of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act (opens in a new tab)

  State HFA association’s enactment statement.

6 more tagged for state & local housing finance agencies in the full library.