21st Century ROAD to Housing Act

Purpose & Problem

Is the problem real and worth federal action?

The bill aims to increase the housing supply and make homes more affordable by updating rules for building, financing, and managing federally assisted housing. It targets a stated national shortage of millions of homes and rising housing costs.

Scope & Related Provisions

Does it stay focused, or carry unrelated add-ons?

The bill covers housing supply, zoning guidance, environmental review, manufactured homes, mortgage finance, tenant protections, and agency oversight. Title VI adds several provisions on bank examination rules, deposit regulations, and bank merger limits that are not directly related to housing construction or affordability.

Who Is Affected

Who benefits, and who bears the cost?

Renters, homebuyers, veterans, low- and moderate-income families, and manufactured home residents would see changes to program rules and eligibility. State and local governments, public housing agencies, lenders, banks, credit unions, and housing developers face new duties, reporting requirements, or changes to how they are examined and regulated.

Cost & Funding

Is it affordable and responsibly funded?

The bill does not include a CBO cost estimate in the sources. It authorizes several grant and pilot programs, including grants for housing pattern books, temperature sensors, affordable housing planning, and small-dollar mortgage incentives, but does not specify dollar amounts for most of them. Section 613 reduces the Federal Reserve's surplus fund by $115,000,000, effective September 30, 2035, which the bill uses as an offset.

Risks & Implementation

What could go wrong in practice?

Several provisions require agencies to write new rules, establish pilot programs, or negotiate agreements within set deadlines, which depends on agency staffing and resources. Provisions exempting certain projects from environmental review rely on agencies correctly identifying which projects qualify, a task the bill assigns but does not fully define in advance.

TITLE I--OPPORTUNITIES FOR HOUSING

This title updates housing counseling programs by requiring performance reviews of counseling organizations and allowing HUD to suspend or remove poorly performing counselors. It also creates new guidelines for building designs, small-dollar mortgage pilot programs, a temperature sensor program for federally assisted housing, and zoning best practices to help communities build more housing. Additionally, it reduces environmental review requirements for rural infill housing projects and requires local governments to post databases of undeveloped public land online.

TITLE II--BUILDING MORE IN AMERICA

Title II creates several programs to increase housing construction and repair across the country. It sets up grants for home repairs, allows banks to make more public welfare investments, expands what counts as eligible spending under community development grants, streamlines environmental reviews for housing projects, and rewards communities that have grown their housing supply. It also funds planning grants to help local governments update zoning and housing strategies.

TITLE III--MANUFACTURED HOUSING FOR AMERICA

This title expands the legal definition of manufactured homes to include homes built without a permanent chassis, requires states to certify they treat these homes equally under their laws, and sets new safety and energy efficiency standards. It also raises loan limits for buying or improving manufactured and modular homes, reviews FHA financing barriers for modular housing, and creates a competitive grant program to improve affordable manufactured housing communities. States that do not certify compliance face restrictions on building or selling the newly defined homes.

TITLE IV--ACCESSING THE AMERICAN DREAM

This title works to make homeownership and housing assistance more accessible in several ways. It requires a study on how mortgage lenders are paid for small-dollar home loans under $100,000, and looks at fees and rules that may make these small loans harder to get. It also updates appraisal rules, creates a savings pilot program for low-income renters who increase their earnings, and reduces duplicate inspections for housing voucher units already checked by other federal programs.

TITLE V--PROGRAM REFORM

Title V reforms two major federal housing programs. It updates the HOME Investment Partnerships Program by expanding who can receive help, loosening restrictions on how local governments can spend funds, streamlining environmental reviews, and strengthening enforcement rules. It also reforms Rural Housing Service programs by permanently establishing a housing preservation program, updating rural vouchers, and requiring new reporting and technology improvements.

TITLE VI--VETERANS AND HOUSING

This title requires that home loan applications include a notice telling veterans they may qualify for a VA Home Loan, and it updates the disclosure form to clearly show VA loan options alongside FHA loan information. It also changes the rules so that disability benefits received by veterans are not counted as income when determining eligibility for certain federal housing assistance programs. A government study must be completed within 18 months to check whether lenders are following the new disclosure rules.

TITLE VII--OVERSIGHT AND ACCOUNTABILITY

This title requires the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to testify before Congress each year about HUD's programs, housing conditions, and progress on homelessness. It also requires monthly reports to Congress on the financial health of the FHA mortgage insurance fund. In addition, it directs federal housing agencies to allow borrowers to request a second review of their home appraisal and orders a study on creating a public database of appraisal data.

TITLE VIII--ACCOUNTABILITY, COORDINATION, STUDIES, AND REPORTING

This title requires HUD, USDA, and the VA to coordinate and share housing data, streamline environmental reviews for jointly funded housing projects, and study work requirements in subsidized housing programs. The GAO must study workforce housing, housing near Superfund sites, housing for elderly and disabled people, and inherited property without clear titles. Public housing agencies under federal oversight must publicly disclose contracts and report regularly to Congress on their progress.

TITLE IX--STRENGTHENING COMMUNITY BANKS' ROLE IN HOUSING

This title changes banking rules to make it easier for community banks and credit unions to accept certain types of deposits, raise money, and form new institutions. It also requires federal banking agencies to study how to support small, rural, and minority-owned banks and credit unions, and to improve the process for starting new banks. In addition, it requires more transparency when federal regulators use emergency powers to rescue failing banks.

TITLE X--HOME-OWNERSHIP FOR MAIN STREET AMERICA

This title bans large investment funds and corporations that control 350 or more single-family homes from buying additional ones, with some exceptions such as newly built homes, renovate-to-rent programs, and rent-to-own arrangements. It creates a HUD hotline and website where renters of corporate-owned homes can report disputes, and it requires corporate landlords to notify tenants about this resource. Fines up to $1,000,000 per violation or three times the purchase price can be imposed, and penalty money goes to a homeownership assistance program for first-time buyers.

TITLE XI--CENTRAL BANK DIGITAL CURRENCY Off-Topic

This title changes the Federal Reserve Act to ban the Federal Reserve from creating or issuing a central bank digital currency, which would be a government-backed digital dollar available to the public. There is a narrow exception for digital currencies that are open, permissionless, and protect privacy the same way physical cash does. The ban expires on December 31, 2030, and any future digital currency would still require approval from Congress.

restricts the Federal Reserve from issuing a government-backed digital dollar

TITLE XII--MISCELLANEOUS

This title includes two standard legal provisions. The first says that if any part of the Act is found invalid by a court, the rest of the Act still stands. The second states that no new money is authorized to fund the requirements of this Act beyond what has already been appropriated.