National Housing Law Project Applauds Bipartisan Bill to Keep Rural Americans Housed Passing Senate Committee

Rural Housing Service Reform Act Would Save Affordable Homes and Promote Homeownership under the USDA’s Rural Development Housing Program

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The National Housing Law Project (NHLP) today applauded the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs for passing the Rural Housing Service Reform Act, a bipartisan bill introduced by Senators Smith and Rounds that would help preserve the country’s rural affordable housing and promote homeownership among rural Americans. The Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Rural Development program helps house nearly 375,000 tenants and disburse over 186,000 single family home loans. It is often the only safe and affordable housing in rural communities. The bill was added as an amendment to the ROAD to Housing Act.

“No matter where we live or where we come from, everyone in our country deserves a safe and affordable place to call home. The Rural Housing Service Reform Act would help stably house the hundreds of thousands of poor and working people in rural America who are struggling to make ends meet. The bill would save affordable rental housing and bolster the economic well-being of our nation’s rural communities. We’ll continue working with Senators Smith and Rounds’ to get this bill across the finish line and keep rural Americans housed,” said National Housing Law Project Managing Attorney Natalie Maxwell. 

Specifically, the Rural Housing Service Reform Act would:

• Maintain rental assistance contracts from properties that go through foreclosure and transfer them to other properties to make rents affordable; 
• Give USDA authority to renew rental assistance contracts after the Section 515 mortgage has matured, which maintains tenant protections, housing affordability, and stability for tenants; 
• Extend eligibility for the Rural Development Voucher program to residents of rental properties with maturing mortgages;
• Explicitly authorize the Rural Development Voucher subsidy amount to increase when a household experiences a reduction in income or increase in rent; and
• Preserve affordable homeownership for poor and working rural homeowners by allowing loan terms for up to 40 years.

The National Housing Law Project has long advocated for the preservation, improvement, and expansion of USDA’s rural housing portfolio and testified before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Development in 2023 about the importance of rental housing provided by USDA’s Rural Housing Service.