ROAD to Housing Act of 2025

Improved Housing Counseling Oversight: The Secretary can conduct performance reviews of participating agencies to ensure compliance, which may help ensure high-quality counseling services (Sec. 101).

Increased Opportunities for Delinquent Borrowers: Borrowers with a mortgage loan that is 30 days or more delinquent may be given the opportunity to participate in available housing counseling (Sec. 101).

Support for Housing in Opportunity Zones: The Secretary may give additional weight to applicants located in or serving qualified opportunity zones when awarding competitive grants for housing construction or preservation (Sec. 202).

Zoning Reform Guidelines: The Assistant Secretary will publish guidelines and best practices to help state and local governments reduce regulatory barriers, such as reducing parking minimums and increasing building heights (Sec. 203).

Financial Assistance for Home Repairs: The Whole-Home Repairs Act establishes a pilot program to provide grants to homeowners for repairs related to accessibility, safety, and energy efficiency (Sec. 204).

Support for Small-Scale Housing Construction: The Accelerating Home Building Act allows for grants to help local governments select pre-reviewed designs for low-rise or mid-rise structures, such as duplexes or townhouses (Sec. 210).

Modernized Financing for Manufactured Homes: The bill updates loan limits for the purchase of manufactured homes and provides for the construction of accessory dwelling units (Sec. 303).

Community Improvements for Manufactured Housing: A competitive grant program would allow for improvements to community infrastructure, utilities, and resident health and safety in eligible manufactured housing communities (Sec. 304).

Manufactured Housing Improvements: The bill allows for grants to fund land acquisition, infrastructure, and community services like eviction prevention and down payment assistance for eligible communities (Section (F), (G), and (H)).

Increased Small Dollar Mortgage Availability: By requiring reports on compensation practices and allowing for rulemaking on points and fees, the bill aims to increase the availability of smaller mortgage loans (Section 401 and 402).

Professionalized Appraisal Standards: The bill establishes specific requirements for appraiser certification, licensing, and education to ensure competency (Section 403(a)).

Support for Trainee Appraisers: New provisions allow for the use of state credentialed trainee appraisers to assist certified appraisers (Section 403(c)).

Savings Opportunities for Families: The Escrow Expansion Pilot Program allows families receiving assistance to place increased earnings into interest-bearing accounts to help them save (Section 404(3)(A)).

Streamlined Housing Inspections: The bill allows for the satisfaction of inspection requirements through participation in other housing programs, which can speed up the process for low-income housing (Section 405(a)).

Improved Disaster Recovery: The establishment of a Long-Term Disaster Recovery Fund and a new Office of Disaster Management and Resiliency aims to provide a more coordinated response to catastrophic events (Section 501(b) and 501(c)).

Preservation of Rural Housing: The Housing Preservation and Revitalization Program helps preserve multifamily rental housing projects through loan restructuring and rental assistance renewals (Section 503(c) and 503(d)).

Support for Rural Development: The establishment of a Rural Community Development Initiative provides grants to help rural communities improve housing, community facilities, and economic development (Section (b)).

Enhanced Flexibility for Housing Vouchers: Tenants can request an interim review to recalculate their voucher amount if they experience a reduction in income, a change in family composition, or a change in rental rate (Section (k)(2)).

Improved Veteran Loan Awareness: The bill requires a disclaimer on loan applications to inform potential borrowers that they may qualify for a VA Home Loan (Section 601(a)).

Increased Benefits for Disabled Veterans: The bill excludes certain disability benefits from the income used to determine eligibility for supported housing programs (Section 603(a)(1)(iv)).

New Protections in Appraisals: Consumers gain the right to request a reconsideration of value or a subsequent appraisal if they believe a report is unsupported, deficient, or discriminatory (Section 705(a)(2)).

Support for Home-Based Child Care: The bill revises restrictions to exclude licensed or regulated home-based child care providers from certain loan restrictions (Section (q)).

Risk of Loss of Counseling Capacity: The Secretary may require continued education, retesting, or permanent suspension of certification for counselors deemed to lack competence, which could impact the availability of local services (Sec. 101).

Potential Loss of Assistance Renewal: The Secretary may deny the renewal of assistance to organizations or entities that do not comply with program requirements (Sec. 101).

Mandatory Lease and Management Plans: Rental assistance conversion may require the adoption of a mandatory tenant lease and management plan addendum (Sec. 201).

Requirements for Landlords in Repair Programs: Landlords receiving loans for repairs must comply with specific lease extension offers and cap annual rent increases at 5 percent of base rent or inflation for at least 3 years (Sec. 204).

Potential Reduction in Community Development Funds: Under the Build Now Act, the Secretary may decrease the allocation of funds to recipients if their housing growth improvement rate is below the median (Sec. 206).

Restrictions on Older Housing: Grants may not be used for the rehabilitation or modernization of manufactured housing units built before June 15, 1976 (Section (2)(A)).

Increased Training Burdens for Appraisers: The bill introduces new requirements for verifiable education and specific certification/licensing that appraisers must meet (Section 403(a)(1)).

Withdrawal Limits on Escrow Accounts: Families in the Escrow Expansion Pilot Program can only withdraw funds after a specific period of time, such as 5 or 7 years, unless specific conditions are met (Section s 404(3)(C)).

Requirement for De-facto De-listing: In the rural housing program, the Secretary may permanently remove certain income restrictions from housing units (Section 503(c)(5)).

Mandatory Annual Recertification: Tenants in certain voucher programs are required to annually recertify their family composition and income (Section (k)(3)(A)).

Potential Consequences for Failure to Recertify: If a tenant fails to complete the required annual recertification within the required timeframe, they may face consequences (Section (k)(3)(B)).

Matching Fund Requirements: Eligible intermediaries receiving grants for rural development are required to provide matching funds from other sources, which must be at least equal to the grant amount (Section (d)(1)).