Last progress March 6, 2025 (9 months ago)
Introduced on March 6, 2025 by Christopher A. Coons
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
This bill aims to make it easier for families with Housing Choice Vouchers to find homes—especially in safer, higher-opportunity neighborhoods with good schools and jobs—by encouraging more landlords to participate. It does this by offering one-time incentive payments for landlords who open units in low-poverty areas, help with tenants’ security deposits, and bonus funds for housing agencies that hire “landlord liaisons” to recruit and support landlords and run a hotline or portal for questions. It also creates a dedicated Housing Partnership Fund to pay for these incentives, with $100 million a year authorized for 2025–2029, plus $7 million a year for a Tribal program that helps Native American veterans find housing. Agencies must report on how these funds are used.
The bill cuts red tape by letting voucher units “count” as already inspected if they passed inspections recently under other housing programs like Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, HOME, or USDA housing, and by allowing pre-approval inspections for new landlords so a unit can be ready for a voucher tenant within 60 days. It also expands the use of ZIP code–level rent limits (called small area fair market rents) in more metro areas within three years, and protects current families from payment cuts if standards change. HUD will update how it rates housing agencies to reward good landlord service and leasing in a wider mix of neighborhoods, and will publish annual reports for five years tracking landlord participation, accessible units, and units in high-opportunity areas.
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