“A bill to establish a permanent rural housing preservation and revitalization program, and for other purposes.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section establishes a permanent housing preservation and revitalization program for multifamily rental housing projects financed under sections 514 (farm labor housing loans), 515 (rural rental housing loans), or 516 (farm labor housing grants) of the Housing Act of 1949. (These USDA Rural Housing Service programs provide subsidized loans and grants for affordable multifamily housing serving low-income rural residents and farm laborers, often paired with rental assistance under section 521(a)(2).) The program requires the Secretary of Agriculture to (1) provide annual written notice to owners of loans maturing within four years of options to extend loan terms or decouple rental assistance and, starting three years before maturity, annual notice to tenants (in plain English and translated as needed) of maturity dates, possible property actions, and tenant rights to project-based rental assistance under section 542 or tenant-based Section 8 vouchers (42 U.S.C. 1437f); (2) restructure maturing loans as needed (e.g., by reducing or eliminating interest, deferring payments, subordinating or reamortizing debt, or providing other incentives) to ensure projects remain safe and affordable; (3) renew section 521(a)(2) rental assistance contracts for the shorter of the restructured loan term or 20 years (subject to annual appropriations) if owners maintain decent, safe, and sanitary standards, with additional assistance for unassisted units as needed; (4) secure recorded restrictive use agreements obligating owners to comply with program requirements, with terms matching the restructured loan or the longer of 20 years or remaining loan term if assistance is extended (terminable early if assistance ends for reasons beyond owner control); and (5) if restructuring is infeasible, renew section 521(a)(2) contracts for 20 years (subject to annual appropriations) with a restrictive use agreement, again with additional assistance as needed and owner maintenance obligations. (Thus, the program aims to prevent the loss of affordable rural housing units upon loan maturities by facilitating financial restructuring or transferring assistance to vouchers.)
This section expands eligibility for the rural housing voucher program to include any low-income household (including those not receiving rental assistance) residing, for the remaining term of their lease in effect just prior to prepayment, in a property financed with a loan made or insured under section 514 or 515 of the Housing Act of 1949 (i.e., USDA farm labor or rural rental housing loans), or a grant under section 516 (i.e., farm labor housing grants), that has (1) been prepaid without restrictions imposed by the Secretary pursuant to section 502(c)(5)(G)(ii)(I); (2) been foreclosed; or (3) matured after September 30, 2005, and is not receiving rental assistance under section 521. (As background, such events typically end affordability restrictions and rental assistance for these properties, potentially increasing rents and displacing low-income tenants.)
This section mandates that the monthly assistance payment for any rural housing voucher under section 542 of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1490r)—which assists very low-income families and persons with rental housing in rural areas—be calculated as specified in subsection (a) of that section (i.e., payment standard for the area minus 30% of monthly adjusted income, not to exceed rent minus 10% of monthly gross income), notwithstanding any other provision of law.
This section amends rental assistance contract authority under Section 521(d) of the Housing Act of 1949 for projects financed under the Section 515 rural rental housing program (i.e., for low-income elderly and families) or Section 514 farm labor housing program. Specifically, it (1) authorizes the Secretary, upon owner request, to renew rental assistance contracts for up to 20 years or the loan term (whichever shorter), subject to appropriations; (2) changes a requirement in paragraph (2) from mandatory ("shall") to permissive ("may"); and (3) requires the Secretary to provide owners at least one year to reallocate rental assistance that becomes available due to a tenant's termination of assistance to an eligible unassisted tenant in the same project.
This section authorizes appropriations of $50 million for FY2026 to the Secretary of Agriculture for improving Department of Agriculture technology used to process and service loans for multifamily housing (i.e., USDA Rural Development programs providing subsidized rental housing for low-income rural residents) and otherwise managing that housing. The improvements must be completed, and the funds remain available, within the five-year period beginning upon appropriation.
This section directs the Secretary of Agriculture to submit to Congress, not later than six months after enactment, a plan for preserving affordability for low-income families of rental projects financed with section 514 (farm labor housing) or section 515 (rural rental housing) loans under the Housing Act of 1949 and avoiding tenant displacement. (As background, sections 514 and 515 authorize low-interest loans—1% for section 514—to nonprofits and others for such housing serving domestic farm labor and low-income rural tenants; the plan must (1) set performance goals and measures, (2) identify actions and mechanisms to achieve them, (3) provide progress measurements, (4) require detailed outcome reporting, and (5) include legislative recommendations.) This section further establishes a 16-member advisory committee, appointed by the Secretary and meeting quarterly, to assist in preserving section 514/515 properties through the new multifamily housing preservation and revitalization program (section 545) and implementing the plan; committee functions include improving portfolio estimates, reviewing Rural Housing Service preservation policies for sections 514/515/516/538, monitoring program results, and reporting to Congress and the public.